Against All Odds
by nature-lover2003
Summary: A Highbreed messenger android goes off course and lands somewhere on Earth. Ben and his team track it to Jump City and meet the Teen Titans. They come across a conspiracy that rivals everything both teams have ever come across and have no choice but to team up with an old enemy if they wish to stop it. (Rated T for violence, peril, some language and many dark themes)
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: This is something that's been in the works for a number of years. I first came up with the idea when I started watching all these reruns of "Teen Titans" and new episodes of "Ben 10: Alien Force/Ultimate Alien". Then I completely forgot about it until I started watching these shows again.**

**Because the "Alien Force/Ultimate Alien" arcs were the ones I grew up on, Ben and his team will be how they were during that time. Meaning Ben will shout out the names of his aliens and there's most likely not going to be any mention of characters introduced in "Omniverse" since I barely got halfway through season one before I started watching other stuff. However, I will include one element that's usually associated with "Omniverse", but it'll most likely be just at the beginning and maybe mentioned or referenced later on as this progresses.**

**Originally when I first thought up this whole thing up Titans East and a few villains from both franchises were going to be apart of it, but after my "Scooby-Doo/Teen Titans" crossover I decided not to. So, unlike with my other two crossovers I'm not going to go too crazy with it, but knowing me I might end up throwing in a random element or two just for fun or to add a little comic relief because there's probably going to be some darker elements in this from time to time. A lot of the themes and elements in this takes inspiration from the songs "Monster" and "Hero", both of which are by the band Skillet.**

**Before I forget, because "Alien Force/Ultimate Alien" is the era I'm most familiar with, Ben will be using the Ultimatrix instead of the Omnitrix he got at the end of series. It's mainly because I like the look of the Ultimatrix better than the Omnitrix (for whatever reason). I hope you guys are cool with this.)**

**0~0~0**-o-x-o-**0~0~0**

Bellwood - 10:30 PM

Ben, Gwen and Kevin were inside the storage unit they used as almost like a headquarters. Gwen was typing on her computer, trying to find evidence of something they were recently informed of.

The information they were given was from none other than Reinrassig III, the Supreme leader of the Highbreed. According to him, a specialized messenger android, code named Angelos, he had ordered to be sent to them had gone off course and landed somewhere on Earth. Gwen has been able to narrow its location to the United States, the western half of the States to be specific.

In the meantime, Kevin was polishing his car from head to toe. Ben was sitting on the hood of his car, while drinking a raspberry and beet smoothie. Both had grown bored waiting for her to finish her research hours ago.

After just a few more minutes of typing and research, Gwen exclaimed, "I found it!" Ben almost spilled his smoothie and Kevin almost banged his head on a table as he stood up.

"What did you find, Gwen?" Ben asked as he and Kevin came up to her.

"I was able to hack into the thousands of satellites currently in orbit, owned by both governments around the world and by the Plumbers. I searched through images taken in the past few months and found an object the size of the android Reinrassig told us about. After a simple equation, I was able to pinpoint the exact area where it landed," she explained.

"So, where is it?" Kevin asked.

"After looking over the area I pinpointed on a satellite map of the States, I found that it most likely landed in Jump City, California," she answered. She then told something interesting, "On a hunch, I looked up recent events in that city and found that two weeks ago, a group of heroes called the Teen Titans battled 'a mysterious white monster'." She showed them an image of the so-called 'white monster', "Look familiar?"

The image was of an all white monster-like creature with black marks on its face and red eyes. The monster looked exactly like the description and blueprints given to them by Reinrassig. It wasn't too difficult to determine the size of it, they had seen and fought more than enough Highbreed to know that it was the exact size of the average Highbreed. There was no doubt that this monster was the android they were looking for.

Ben looked at Kevin with a serious look on his face, "Fire up the Rust Bucket, we're going to Jump City."

* * *

Jump City, California - 6:00 AM

The sun hadn't yet fully risen over the horizon, but Robin enjoyed waking up early so that he had a chance to catch up on his training. In the fifteen minutes he had been awake he took a shower, put on his costume and gelled his hair to make it spiky.

He was on his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Once he made it down the hallway to the living room/kitchen area, he was surprised to see the TV on and the channels changing, indicating someone other than him was awake.

He walked over to the sofa and was shocked to see that it was Beast Boy who was awake. Or should he say half-awake; he could see visible dark rings underneath his friend and teammate's eyes.

"Beast Boy? What are you doing up this early?" he asked. "Normally, you sleep in as late as possible."

"I haven't been able to sleep well lately," he replied quietly and sleepily.

"Does it have to do with Terra or you know?" he asked carefully.

"No, I've been able to accept that Terra doesn't want to come back to us, if that girl really was her," he answered, almost in a reassuring way.

"That's... very mature of you, I'm impressed. So, have you been checking on _him_ lately?" he questioned, his tone turning serious.

He knew exactly who he was referring to, "He was doing some exercises when I gave him his breakfast yesterday, but he started to look kind of sluggish later on."

He rubbed his chin, "I'm not sure if that's an improvement or if it's something we should keep an eye on."

"Well, don't ask me," he shrugged, "I wouldn't know."

He continued to flip through the channels and didn't even notice the other Titans walk into the room. He didn't even notice Cyborg coming over to sit next to him, causing the couch to move slightly.

Cyborg fake coughed, trying to get his attention, but he didn't even blink. He coughed again, but still nothing.

"Uh, Beast Boy?" he nudged his shoulder to get his attention.

"Yeah?" he finally acknowledged his close friend.

"Have you been sleeping at all lately?" he asked.

"No, I guess I'm just worried about you-know-who," he admitted. "He just didn't look very well yesterday."

"Why? Robin said you told him he was exercising when you gave him his breakfast," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but he looked kind of sick when I gave him his dinner," he told him.

Starfire overheard their conversation and asked, "Beast Boy, were you able to acquire any information about him?"

He put a finger on his chin, "Uh, if you mean that we sometimes have conversations then, yeah. He tells me if he's feeling good or not and sometimes we talk about our hobbies and interests and things like that." He continued to tell them about some of the things they talk about and information he was told.

_Beast Boy, holding a plate full of food in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, walked into a room. The room was more or less one-third free space and the other two-thirds was a containment quarter._

_The containment quarter was practically its own little room. It was white with some stains here and there that weren't there a week ago. The room had a cot and a door leading to a small bathroom. Protecting both the person inside and the people outside was a think glass panel with a small sliding glass door to get food and dishes in and out._

_Both Beast Boy and who was inside walked up to the glass panel. He opened the sliding door and handed him his food and the bottle._

_Not knowing what else to do, he just stood there awkwardly. He noticed that their 'guest' kept placing a hand over his stomach and looked pale._

_"Hey, dude, uh, are you okay?" he asked._

_"I feel very nauseated," he answered, somewhat sickly._

_"Try drinking some water," he tried to help._

_He opened the bottle and drank some water. He drank only a small sip when he suddenly dropped it and rushed to the bathroom with a hand over his mouth. The water spilled out of the bottle like rain going through a gutter and formed a large puddle on the floor._

_He came back fifteen minutes later, looking paler and sicker than before. It wasn't that he looked a lot worse than earlier that worried him, but the blood he noticed pooling in the corners of his mouth._

_"Uh, you have blood in the corners of your mouth," he wiped the sides of his mouth to show where it was._

_He copied his movements and grimaced at the blue smears on his cyan fingers. He wiped his fingers on his black pants with angered expression on his face, "Wonderful."_

_Instead of eating the rest of his food, he took out a dark red music player and black headphones. He put one headphone over his pointed ear while the other was behind his other ear and looked through his list of songs._

_"Hey," Beast Boy spoke, getting his attention, "you didn't steal those, did you?"_

_He shook his head, "No, I found them lying in the grass at a park."_

_"A park?" he repeated, now a little suspicious._

_"I like going to the park to relax, especially when my friends start to argue over mediocre topics. I typically like to be in areas where no one would go to. That way I don't have to worry about scaring people or worry about them contacting the police," he explained._

_He picked a song and unplugged his headphones so that he can listen too. The song "In Too Deep" by Sum-41 echoed throughout the entire room. He softly sang along to the chorus._

"'Cause I'm in too deep, and I'm trying to keep

Up above in my head, instead of going under

'Cause I'm in too deep, and I'm trying to keep

Up above in my head, instead of going under

Instead of going under…"

_Beast Boy was mesmerized by this, "Dude, I didn't know you could sing."_

_He shrugged, "It's something I picked up after listening to these songs over and over. They help me improve my vocabulary as well as help me keep my mind off of... events."_

_He was almost sorry to ask, but did anyway, "What kind of 'events'?"_

_Not wanting to give too much information about himself, he told him about a traumatic event, whose anniversary was coming up very shortly, "Eight years ago, I was held prisoner at a top secret government facility. The cell they kept me in was full of water and I was only let out of it once a week for cleaning. The General kept asking me about an invasion and what my plans for Earth were. No matter what I said, he didn't believe me and told me that I would rot in that cell unless I told them what they wanted to know."_

_"Whoa... what happened next?" he asked, very intrigued._

_He continued with his story, "After I couldn't give them what they wanted, they started to give me less food and cleaned my cell less often than before. One day, I got a new guard assigned to me. He was a Sergeant and couldn't have been any older than twenty-two. He told me he wasn't just a regular guard, but was also a negotiator and that I could trust him. He told me his name and I told him mine."_

_"Oh, man," he gasped. "So, what happened next?"_

_"I was getting to that," he drank a little water from what little was left in the water bottle he spilled. "Now, where was I?"_

_"You were at the part where you and the Sergeant introduced each other," he reminded him._

_"Oh, right," he got back on topic with his story. "He said that as long as he was around, nothing would happen to me, that all they wanted was information on who I was and where I came from. I went silent and said to him, 'I am scared. I fear they want more than simply personal information.' I told him how I lost my entire family and how I almost died seven times within the span of eight months."_

_This was something he could sympathize with as he lost his family too and he was also used as a lab rat. Though, from the sound of it, it sounded like he had a much rougher life than he did._

_He went on to finish his story, "He went quiet, before he said to me, 'I'm going to get you out of here. I'll be back.' He told the General I wasn't feeling well and had to be immediately taken out of the cell. He allowed it and when I got out of it, the Sergeant grabbed my arm and we made a beeline for the back door. We ran through a laboratory and out the door, he grabbed a pair of wire cutters on the way out. I can still hear the sounds of their boots and their canines barking at us. He started to cut at the fence surrounding the building, both of us were shaking the entire time. Just as they approached, he finally made a hole big enough for me to slip through."_

_"W-What happened to him?" he was almost sorry to ask this and maybe he should have been._

_"He... didn't make it. I didn't see anything, but I heard... a sound of thunder," he replied, grief stricken._

_When the story was finally finished, he silently left the room. He watched him leave with a blank yet saddened look on his face. He plugged his headphones back in, put the other headphone over his ear and looked through his songs. It didn't take him long before he found the right one, "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" by My Chemical Romance. Just like before, he softly sang along to the song._

The rest of the Titans were in absolute shock when Beast Boy finished his story. Never in a million years would any of them imagine that a villain could have such a tragic life. Though, maybe they shouldn't be that surprised.

The typical stereotype of people with tragic backstories is that they will become heroes to prevent what happened to them from happening to others. However, there are some who believe that others deserve to suffer as punishment for society turning them away. Or it could be to show them that life isn't fair and they could lose everything in a matter of seconds.

"And I thought I had a bad life," Cyborg commented.

"I thought losing your parents would be the most tragic thing that could to someone, but losing your entire family is just crazy," Robin sounded angry.

"Not to mention almost losing your life as many times as he did," Raven added.

"It must have a very terrifying experience for him to have gone through at such a young age," Starfire brought her now-folded hands close to her mouth.

* * *

Ben, Gwen and Kevin arrived in Jump City between midnight and one in the morning. Normally, travelling across the country would have taken them much longer, but the Rust Bucket was a lot faster than the average jet on Earth.

They spent the next six to seven hours since then to trace the last known location of the android. There was a bit of a problem though, the android hadn't been seen since the article Gwen found had been published. Also, she can't track it because she can only trace someone or something through their mana and, unfortunately, androids have no mana because they're not alive.

Ben then remembered something, "Didn't Reiny say that it was created with the powers of an Osmosian in mind?"

Kevin wasn't sure where he was going with this. "Yeah, so?"

"So, that means it probably has the ability to absorb anything it touches, just like you can," he stated.

"I checked the blueprints given to us on the way here and found that it can blend into the surroundings of whatever it absorbs," she informed.

"I think I see where you're going with this, but how are we going to find it if it can hide like a chameleon?" he asked.

"Easy, we let Wildmutt do all the work," he smirked confidently.

He activated the Ultimatrix and turned the black and green face, searching for the said alien. It didn't take him long before he finally found his desired alien. He slammed his palm onto the face and was engulfed in a green light.

Seconds later, the light dimmed and revealed a familiar orange, eyeball-less, canine-like alien. He let out a howl very similar to that of a wolf and a lion.

He used his enhanced senses to sonar the surrounding area, until he finally found something. It was faint, but it was something and he wanted to check it out. He growled and snarled at them before he took off.

"Ben, wait!" she shouted at him as he ran off.

"Tennyson!" he also shouted at him.

She used her mana manipulation powers to create steps so that she and Kevin could follow him. They didn't have to follow him for very long. They followed him to a construction site where it looked like a battle had taken place recently.

Almost as soon as they caught up to him, Kevin remarked, "You could've gone Ultimate and told us where to go, you know?"

Wildmutt whined and transformed back into Ben, "Sorry, I didn't want to attract any attention by going Ultimate."

"And a regular Vulpimancer wouldn't?" he gibed.

He rubbed the back of his head and laughed in embarrassment, "Yeah, good point."

Meanwhile, she was using her powers to know exactly what happened there. She found that the activity on that site had taken place two weeks prior and some of it had been cleaned up.

"Guys," she started, getting their attention, "we're on the right trail."

"Where to next?" Ben asked.

"The trail is faint," her eyes glowed pink, indicating her powers, "but I think I can follow it."

"Wait, I thought you couldn't track anything that's not alive?" Kevin questioned.

"I'm not tracking the android, I'm tracking whomever was fighting it," she replied.

She closed her eyes and used her levitation to start meditating. She put her mana in sync with the lingering mana of the people who found it to see where it went.

She opened her eyes and set her feet on the ground, then informed them of what she saw, "The fight started here, then led to the sewers, then continued down a street several blocks away, then at a factory or possibly a foundry, but that's all I could see. I couldn't get any details about the fight, just the places where it took place."

"Well, then I guess we should start at the last place the battle took place," Ben stated.

"That factory?" Kevin questioned, somewhat rudely. "There's only one problem with that: there's probably dozens of factories in this city? How will we find the right one?"

"I'm pretty sure she said that it could've been a foundry," he reminded.

"I remember seeing the word 'recycle' in front of the building," she told them. She put a finger on her chin, "If that's the case then it's probably a recycling plant."

"Okay, so that narrows down the search, but how are we going to find it?" Ben asked.

"We could get our rides out of the Rust Bucket," Kevin suggested.

"Or I could go Wildmutt again," he held up the Ultimatrix and started to look through it.

"We're not following that alien mutt again, Tennyson," he deadpanned.

While they argued, Gwen was busy trying to find more details about the location of the recycling plant by concentrating on her powers. It took her a couple minutes but she finally found it, "Got it. It's a quarter-mile from here, just off of McDuffie and Murakami."

They surrounded her and she created a bed of mana and levitated them back to their ship. Kevin opened the hatch and they went inside to the cargo hold where their cars were. They got into Kevin's car and drove off in the direction of the plant.

It took less than ten minutes for them to drive to it. Once there it was decided it was probably best to suit up before going inside. Only the Lord knows what could potentially be waiting for them.

"Which alien are you gonna go with?" Kevin asked Ben as he absorbed the metal from the fence surrounding the place.

"Well, for some reason, I'm feeling kind of nostalgic," he replied with a confident smile.

He activated the Ultimatrix and searched through it for some of the original aliens. It didn't take him long before he found the right one, who just happens to be one of his favorites. He slammed his palm on the face and was once again engulfed in the green light. The light faded away to reveal a familiar red, four-armed humanoid alien.

"Four Arms!" he exclaimed. He looked down at himself and smiled, "Wasn't even sure he was still in there!"

Kevin opened the gates by slicing open the chains holding them together with his sickle shaped hand. He turned his hand back to normal and they walked up the building. Surprisingly, it was unlocked, so all Four Arms had to do was push the doors open.

They walked inside and made sure to be cautious. Gwen clenched her fists and concentrated her mana into her palms, ready for anything. As said before, only the Lord knows what could potentially be waiting for them.

Almost as soon as they walked in and looked around a little bit, she noticed a camera above them. The blinking red light told her it was on and recording them.

"Camera Oblitera!" she cast her spell and deactivated it.

* * *

Sometime after they took in the story they were told, all five Titans sat on the sofa and watched TV. Once again, Beast Boy kept flipping through the channels, greatly annoying his friends who just wanted to watch something. It wasn't until Robin spotted something on one of the channels that he stopped.

"Hey, can you go back to that news channel you just passed?" he asked.

"Sure," he replied quietly and almost unemotional. He changed it back just as the news started talking.

"America, you are watching the "Harangue Nation". First off, there's good news for the citizens of Bellwood," he said. "The teenage menace known as Ben Tennyson has left the city, probably off to cause more destruction. Fingers crossed he never comes back!"

"Ben Tennyson? Isn't he the guy who uses those aliens to save people?" Cyborg questioned.

"Obviously there are people who don't believe he's a good person," Raven stated.

"Hero or not, that doesn't give him the right to break any laws," Robin asserted.

"And we never break a few laws when we go out to stop a robbery or break in?" Beast Boy asked questionably and matter-of-factly.

"While I believe his use of various species and reckless nature could potentially be dangerous, I do believe it is all for the sake of mankind," Starfire voiced her thoughts.

Their conversation was cut short by the crime alarm going off. Robin got up from the sofa and started typing on the computer. The TV screen was replaced by video feed from several streets and the recycling plant.

The feed from the streets showed an orange, canine-like creature running towards the construction site they were at just two weeks prior. The other showed two people, a man and woman, entering the building with a muscular red humanoid with four arms.

There was something unusual about the man and woman. The man was covered in what looked to be steel and the woman's hands were glowing pink.

"A break in? What could they be looking for?" Robin questioned.

"Who cares? They're obviously up to no good, we gotta take 'em down!" Cyborg asserted.

The woman noticed the camera they were looking through. She raised one of her hands and the feed suddenly pixelated, indicating that it had been destroyed or cut off.

This seemed to help him prove his point, "See?"

"But what about that orange dog thingy?" Beast Boy asked.

"I could not see it clearly, however, I believe the canine creature may be a Vulpimancer," Starfire spoke. "The other is likely a Tetramand."

The others didn't know what she was talking about, though she clearly had knowledge about the creatures caught on camera. They needed as much important as possible on the creatures in the video feed.

"Star, what can you tell us about those creatures?" her boyfriend asked.

"Vulpimancers are a vicious animalistic species from the planet Vulpin. They are not known to be friendly, not even with their own kind. Tetramands are a fairly aggressive race from the planet Khoros. They are great warriors who favor violence over peace," she informed. "That is all I know."

"That's alright, Star," he assured.

The only further proved his point, "If they're as dangerous as she says then it's our job to take them down."

"Fine," he complied, "we'll go to the recycling plant first, then deal with the Vulpimancer later."

Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy were the first ones to leave the room. Robin was about to follow them, but Raven grabbed his arm, holding him back.

"Robin, wait," she almost sounded a little concerned.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I think that girl used a spell to disable the camera," she told him.

"Spell? As in magic?" he questioned.

"It's nothing like the magic I've seen on Azarath, it's... different," she stated.

He had no response to this and before anything more could be said, Cyborg called out to them. They left the room to join up with their teammates for this mission.

The alarm still rang throughout the entire Tower in every room. And in one of these rooms the alarm gave their "guest" all but a headache. Though the dizzying, throbbing pain in his head was dulled out by the overwhelming burning pain in his abdomen.

He laid on his back on his cot and had his hands on his stomach, though it did little to help. He stared up at the ceiling, though he had difficulty making out what little could be there; his entire world was spinning.

**0~0~0**-o-x-o-**0~0~0**

**(A/N: Well, this only took a few days to write and finish. That's what happens when I'm happy to get things started and done.**

**I'm sorry if everyone seems a little OCC, I tried my absolute best. Speaking of which, can you guess who their "guest" is? (*hint* *see I.R.*) (I.R. is an abbreviation by the way, you have to figure it out on your own)**

**This story is based on two theories I came up with about both shows. The first theory is that a certain racist in "Teen Titans" was evil all along. The second theory is that an entire race of (former) racists in "Ben 10" were never evil to begin with. I won't ramble on about them right now, but there is a lot of evidence to support them.**

**One more thing: chapter two will be real soon. I've already gotten started.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter and I hope you enjoy this one. I'm honestly really excited to get this done, but I'll try not to get too excited. Experience has taught me that getting too excited while writing a story makes it a little too much for some people to take in. Experience has also taught me that not getting excited while writing a story makes it really dull and boring. And I am not a boring person!)**

O-V-O-V**~X~0~X~**V-O-V-O

"So, wait, what are we looking for again?" Kevin asked. His armor now long since gone.

She sighed, "Evidence of where the android could be."

Four Arms tossed a crate to the side, "So far all I've found are man-sized shapes in the walls."

"Well, that does prove the fight happened here," she tried to be a little optimistic, but it was pretty difficult since she was shrouded in disappointment and concern.

Disappointment because she had a glimmer of hope that they could actually find it there. Concern because of the important message that it was protecting from the wrong hands.

She placed a hand on one of the indentations in the wall closest to her. She went into a deep concentration to put her mana and the trace mana in sync into her tracking spell.

"From here the fight carried on in an alleyway just a block away," she spoke.

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Four Arms asked impatiently. "Let's go!"

The doors suddenly flew open and five unfamiliar figures stood in the early morning light. The bright light obscured their faces and what they were wearing, but they could tell that they were teenagers just like them. The group consisted of three boys and two girls, who were floated above them.

"You're not going anywhere!" a voice full of seriousness and selflessness declared.

Green energy bolts were thrown down on them from one of the girls. Gwen immediately created a mana shield to protect them. Kevin knelt down and absorbed the material the floor was made of.

The tallest and largest figure fired a blue sonic laser at her shield, causing it to crack. The other female figure shot down a beam of black energy. All three attacks combined were more than enough to break the shield and slightly weaken Gwen.

Kevin shaped his hand into a spiked maul and charged them. Clearly intent on pounding all five of them to a pulp for hurting his girlfriend.

Four Arms cracked his knuckles, "Bad move."

He lunged at them and aimed for the one in the middle. He noticed the voice from earlier was coming from directly in front of them, not from the side or from above.

In reaction, the figure in the middle commanded, "Titans, go!"

Unbeknownst to them, a shadowy figure watched from above as this was happening. He had a feeling that this battle would lead to an interesting outcome.

He took out a bo staff to defend himself just as he brought down all four of his strong arms. If there was one thing he had to say, he was definitely just as strong as looked.

He smirked went it looked like he was about to be brought down to his knees. That was until his arms were suddenly held back by two green hairy arms.

He was lifted up off the ground by a green sasquatch. He reached for the Ultimatrix, but none of his arms could reach his chest in the position he was in. Then, he remembered something, he could transform without pressing it.

All it took was just a little focus and... a familiar light enveloped him. Seconds later he was transformed into an alien that looked to be made of green slime. An anti-gravity projector was hovering above him.

"Goop!" he shouted and slipped out of his arms into a puddle on the floor.

The sasquatch turned into a green human with a confused look on his face. "Uh... what just happened?"

His friend and leader didn't know either, "I'm not sure, Beast Boy."

While they were talking, Goop's anti-gravity projector rose up off the floor with his body in tow. Before they could react he covered them and trapped them in a ball.

The girl that fired the green energy bolts at them before gasped in shock when he transformed into a different alien. "A Polymorph? How did he-" She was cut off by multiple projectiles of mana being fired at her and her cloaked friend.

Her friend created a shield of dark energy to protect them from her powers. Though it didn't hold up for very long, just like with Gwen's shield before, her defenses started to crack and eventually shatter.

Gwen was surprised by this nonetheless and asked, "Are you from Ledgerdomain?"

'Ledgerdomain?' she questioned in her thoughts.

Another green energy bolt was fired at her, she shielded herself just in the nick of time. She tried to reason with them, "Wait! We're not here to cause trouble! We just want-"

She was cut off by her boyfriend finishing it for her, "To pound you!" It was the opposite of what she was going to say.

His hands were now enlarged and he was charging the largest member of the attacking group, who just happens to be covered in metal and cybernetics. Who better for an Osmosian to fight?

The sonic laser was shot at him again, but he was able to dodge it with ease. Before he could land his attack on him, he clashed with two metal hands. His hands shrunk down to their normal size and began to fight like wrestlers.

The cybernetic guy was stronger than expected and was able to crack his armor. He was driven down to his knees and relieved himself of his sheathing.

He smirked down at the now-defenseless Osmosian on the floor, "Not so tough now, are ya?"

He gave a toothy smirk of his own, "To the contrary, I think I know a way to beat you!"

He suddenly arose to his feet and got a firm grip on his metallic foe's wrists. His opponent looked at him in utter shock as he acquires a blue and white color scheme, similar to his.

"What are you?!" he gaped.

"A badass," he answered with a smug look on his face. He cracked his knuckles and lunged at him.

The spiky-haired assailant and his green friend, identified as Beast Boy, struggled to escape from Goop. Still trapped in the bubble, they squirmed like infant animals, hoping to break free. Beast Boy morphed into different animals, but was still unsuccessful.

"Nice try, but I'm indestructible in this form," he proclaimed.

"Indestructible maybe, but not unbeatable," the leader stated.

He noticed earlier that he couldn't move without the device above him. He gripped his staff tightly and thrusted it up as hard as he could. He was able to penetrate the bubble and shoot the device away like a cue stick hitting the white ball in a game of pool.

With his anti-gravity projector disturbed, it caused Goop's body to splatter on the floor. The two were covered in the green gelatin-like substance.

"Ugh! What is this stuff?" Beast Boy groaned in disgust. "Get it off! Get it off!" He licked his cheek, "Huh, tastes like lime."

"Well, that's one down," the leader stated. Though, it was definitely said too soon.

Just seconds after they got out, Goop's anti-gravity projector gathered together every last drop of him, including what they were covered in. It only took a second for him to become whole again.

"Like I said, indestructible," his voice had very 'I-told-so' sounding tone to it, but it was difficult to catch due to his voice sounding like talking with a mouth full of water. His arms were crossed and his eyes were sharp.

The leader's eyes were equally as sharp as he glared at him. He tightly gripped his staff and went in for another attack. Goop grabbed the staff and it melted in his palms.

Gwen shot a power beam of mana at the two girls above her. It was blocked by yet another dark energy shield, this time it shattered completely like a pane of glass and hit both of them. The cloaked girl took most of the attack and was severely hurt, though was not going to let her friend know this. Her body heals itself rather quickly anyway.

"Raven! Are you injured?" her friend asked worriedly.

The girl, identified as Raven, assured her, "No, I'm fine."

Her friend didn't buy it though, her eyes glowed a fiery green as she threatened Gwen, "You will pay for harming my friend."

She still tried to reason with them, "Please, just listen-"

Too late. A powerful beam of green energy was already being fired down on her. She could just see the rage-filled power in the attack and knew the only way to counter a powerful attack like it was with another.

She cast one of her preferred spells to nullify it, "Tur-bo!"

A tornado of mana winds clashed with her attack and they quickly cancelled each other out. The two girls made eye contact with each other and decided to use one of their most powerful attacks if they ever hope to defeat her.

They joined hands and concentrated their respective powers through their arms and to their palms. Soon, a ray of swirling black and green energy came down directly at her.

She had to react quickly or else she wouldn't be getting out of this in one piece. "Mercuta Verditis!"

Pink lightning shot out of her palms and clashed with the swirling ray. All three girls concentrated more power into their attacks, only to be cancelled out yet again.

Both attacks had taken a lot out of all three of them, but the two above her appeared to be drained of all power from their combined attack. This was the perfect opportunity to immobilize them, to prevent them from attacking her any further and causing more harm to themselves than to her.

"Appendage-A Regoria!" The girls became paralyzed in mid-air and would remain that way until the spell wore off or when she chose to release them from its effects.

She created mana steps and climbed up them until she stood next to them. She turned her attention to her boyfriend and who he was fighting.

He and the cybernetic guy were toe-to-toe, they clashed hands and had each other in a vice grip. Both had their teeth gritted, almost to the point of grinding their jaws, and their eyes were full of rage and determination.

"Had enough yet?" Kevin asked through his teeth in a toothy smirk.

"No! What about you? Had enough?" his asked in response, smirking just as he was.

"No!" he answered.

While this fight was fun for him, he saw that his girlfriend was already finished with her battle. It was time to end it, he figured; too bad, this was the most fun he'd had in a long time.

He managed to get out of their iron grip and grabbed his right arm in an equally strong hold. He threw him over his shoulder and, using his weight against him, slammed him into the floor. It created a depression in the floor and knocked him out.

They both looked towards Goop and saw he was struggling against a green bull, his hands on his horns. Red bird-shaped objects were thrown at him, only to be melted as soon as they made contact with his body.

"Ben, I think it's time to wrap it up," his cousin told him.

His eyes drooped, indicating that he was probably frowning or pouting. "Oh, okay," he groaned.

He let go of one of the horns and slapped the Ultimatrix symbol on his chest. In a brief flash of light, he transformed into one of his favorite aliens.

"Diamondhead!" he exclaimed.

Both the leader and Beast Boy were surprised to see him changed again. This time into a large, dark blue and light cyan crystal humanoid.

He got a good grip on his horns with his crystal hands and flipped him onto his teammate. The green changeling turned back into his normal form and both he and his friend were out.

He punched the floor and light cyan crystals grew out and entrapped the leader, Beast Boy, and the cybernetic guy. Gwen placed one hand on the two girls and released them from her spell. She used a bed of mana to carefully set them on the floor, where they were immediately trapped in crystal.

"So… what do we do now?" Diamondhead asked.

"Leave. It's not here and these guys obviously don't like us," Kevin stated.

He looked over at his cousin, "What about you, Gwen?"

"I want to ask them some questions before we leave," she answered.

Both knew that arguing with her was pretty much pointless because her reasons for wanting to ask them questions were probably good ones. After all, she's been proven to be right more than once when it comes to her motives.

They only had to wait half an hour before they finally started to pull through. By this time, Diamondhead had turned back into Ben and Kevin was no longer in armor, though he had a hand on one of the machines just in case.

The girl who fired the first shot at them shot green beams from her eyes and Raven used her dark powers on their crystal prison. They were unsuccessful in their attempts. Their teammates also made an attempt, but they were unsuccessful as well. Perhaps they would've been successful if they didn't have so many things on their minds.

"That's not going to work," Ben spoke matter-of-factly.

"What do you want with us?" the leader of the group questioned.

"We don't want anything from you," Gwen told him in a reassuring way.

"Well, actually," Kevin started, but his friends gave him warning glares, "uh, nevermind."

"We're looking for an android, it was supposed to come to us, but it landed in your city by mistake," she explained.

"Maybe you've seen it. It's all white with black spots on its face and has red eyes," Ben told them.

"It has the power to absorb and blend into its surroundings," Kevin added.

Beast Boy's eyes widened at their disruption, "Oh, man! That sounds like the thing that-" He was cut off by his friend and leader glaring at him.

This didn't go unnoticed by a certain short-tempered Osmosian, "What do you know about it?!"

"Kevin!" his girlfriend scolded.

"We'll tell you if you let us go," the leader told him.

He looked back at his friends and they nodded, giving him the approval. "Fine, I'll free you, but you have to tell us who you are."

He knelt down and absorbed the material in the floor again. He turned his hand into a mallet and started hitting the diamond borstal. He smashed it into thousands of diamond shards and freed them.

They didn't introduce themselves right away, so Ben walked up towards them and reminded them, "Come on, guys, a deal's a deal."

"I'm Robin, this is Cyborg, Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy," he introduced. "We're the Teen Titans."

He figured it was only fair that they knew who they were too, "I'm Ben, Ben Tennyson, this is my cousin Gwen and friend Kevin."

Beast Boy gasped, "Dude! You're Ben Ten?"

"Yep, that's me!" he proudly put his fist on his chest. "Savior of the Earth and the Galaxy!"

His friends groaned in the background, most likely thinking, 'Here we go again.'

Kevin cleared his throat before this could any further, "You were going to tell us what you know about our missing android?"

"Right. Two weeks ago we finally came back home after fighting an organization of villains for several weeks. The day after we got back, we decided to look around the city to see if there were any changes," Robin started.

"And we saw more than just a couple of small changes," Cyborg chimed in.

Kevin looked over at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, "Yeah, I bet."

"Kevin!" Gwen scolded him.

"What?" he asked.

He continued with his explanation, "While we were looking around this construction site, a white monster attacked us out of nowhere. It absorbed everything it came into contact with. We followed it all over town, but nothing we did could stop it."

Ben went into deep thought for a second, "Well, Reiny did say that he made sure it would protect what its carrying with its life."

Of course, this comment didn't go unnoticed, "What are talking about? What could that android be protecting that's so important?"

"What you fought is actually a messenger android called Angelos. It was sent to Earth by Reinrassig III, the Supreme Leader of the Highbreed," Gwen explained.

"The Highbreed?!" Starfire exclaimed.

"Starfire! What's wrong?" Robin asked, concerned.

"Forgive me," she apologized, "I believed the entire Highbreed race to be extinct."

"But they're not extinct," Ben told her. "I repaired the genetic damage in all of them." He then decided to get back on topic, "Anyway, where's the android? Did it escape? Do you have it?"

Those were questions that none of them really knew how to answer. It wasn't like they didn't know where it was, it's just where it was currently located was difficult to explain.

"Well, uh, you see, it's kinda difficult to explain!" Beast Boy nervously tried to explain.

"No need to explain. Can you take us to the alley where you fought it next?" Gwen asked. "We can take over from there."

Robin looked back at his team and they all nodded. He looked back at them, "Follow us, we'll take you there."

As both teams left the building, the shadowy figure that watched them battle narrowed his one eye. He silently jumped down to the ground floor and followed them out.

O-V-O-V**~X~0~X~**V-O-V-O

**(A/N: I apologize if this chapter doesn't live up to your expectations. Fight scenes aren't exactly my cup of tea, I don't write them everyday or in every story.**

**Again, I'm sorry if everyone is a little out of character, but I have a lot on my mind and a lot going on this week. Plus, the fact that I have Finals coming up doesn't exactly help.**

**If it makes you feel better, both teams will get to know each other better in the next chapter and the chapters after that. Also, our old buddy Reiny will be making an appearance here shortly and the identity of the Titans "guest" will be revealed in the next chapter. **

**Speaking of, can you guess who the mysterious figure is? Believe me, it's not that hard and it's so obvious.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N: Warning: vivid description of mild gore at some point. Nothing super bloody, but it could be a possible trigger. It does take some inspiration from the Xenocites in "Ben 10" and even the supposed "signs" of being possessed by a demon or even the Devil. People familiar with the history of the Salem Witch Trials will probably get it. It will be something that gets brought up a bit as this progresses. It won't be said in every chapter, but it will be mentioned or referenced every once in a while.**

**As I said at the end of chapter 2, the identity of the Titans "guest" and the shadowy figure will be revealed at some point. And this chapter will be the start of a friendship between both teams.)**

X~X~X-O-v-O-X~X~X

They left the recycling plant and walked to the alley where the android was last seen. The walk was silent, not even the sound of a car driving could be heard, despite the fact that this was a city.

Wanting to break this awkward silence, Ben decided to ask Starfire something that he had just learned about from Kevin. He just hoped that it wasn't something too personal or weird to ask someone you just met less than five minutes earlier.

"Hey, Starfire, right?" he asked.

"Yes, is something the matter?" she asked curiously.

"Well, Kevin just told me that he thought you were a Tamaranian," he started awkwardly. "And the Ultimatrix doesn't seem interested in your DNA, so that probably means that a sample of your species' is already in there somewhere."

She looked at him oddly, obviously not really knowing where he was going with this. Though, truthfully, she almost felt faltered that he could have a Tamaranian transformation.

He saw the look on her face and laughed nervously, "Sorry, you must think I'm some kind of weirdo."

"No, no, it is alright," she reassured. "I must admit it is quite an honor to have your species recognized for their abilities and not because of how they look."

While they were having their conversation, Gwen and Raven were having one of their own. Theirs mostly consisted of topics about magic.

"What did you mean when you asked if I was from Ledgerdomain?" Raven asked.

"Ledgerdomain is where all known magic in the universe originates from," Gwen explained. "You see, it's the place where mana comes from. Mana is the energy present in all living things."

"I'm not from Ledgerdomain, I was born in a place called Azarath," she told her. "I've been practicing magic since the day I was born and I've never heard of that place. Not even in any of my spellbooks."

"I could teach you about it if you want or we could practice our spells together," she offered.

She gave her a small smile, "I'd like that."

"Hey," Robin started grimly, getting everyone's attention, "we're here."

Ben and his friends looked down it and saw large cracks in the sides of the buildings and fresh potholes that looked to have been made by large fists. A look down and another off to the side revealed huge pools of dried vomitus. A closer look showed drops of a blue fluid that looked identical to dried blood. It was obvious that this was the sight of more than just a battle.

The Titans didn't need to look down the alley to know that this was the right place. Frankly, they hoped that would never have to come back to it for a _long _time; if not a lifetime.

Gwen used her powers to know what happened next and where it went afterwards. She wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but what she found was something she definitely didn't expect to discover.

She turned to the Titans with her arms crossed and had a look on her face that could only be paralleled to someone accusing or suspecting another. "Robin, is there something you forgot to tell us?" she asked in a tone that mirrored her face.

Instead of accusing her of accusing them of lying to them, they looked away from her gaze. None of them could make eye contact with her or her friends.

"Gwen, what are you talking about?" Ben asked. "Are you saying that they've been lying to us?"

"If that's the case," Kevin started, absorbing the brick exterior of the building nearest to him, "they have a serious pounding coming their way."

"No, we'd never lie to you guys," Robin assured them, "but there are some details that, and I think I speak for all of us, we felt had to be... omitted from everyone."

"It is something we all wish to forget, though we cannot," Starfire voiced, almost as a confession.

"What did you find, Gwen?" her cousin questioned.

"Well, the battle did happen here, but it didn't continue at another location," she told him.

"You mean it got away?" her boyfriend asked, almost gritting his teeth.

"Sort of," she answered, "the five of them fought it for a little while, then a sixth person walks into it, then... nothing. The sixth person was just walking by, then gets sick and collapses."

"Care to explain?" Kevin questioned expectantly.

Before they could say anything, Ben was already on the case, "They won't have to."

He slammed his palm onto the Ultimatrix and transformed into another alien. The light faded and revealed a black and golden metal alien with a black face, green eyes, and a green plate with lighter green gears on his abdomen.

"Clockwork!" he exclaimed in a thick German accent.

"A Chronosapien," Starfire gasped.

"Another alien?!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Dude, how many more surprises do you have in that thing?!"

"I'll tell you later, but now we have to get to the bottom of this," he stated.

As much as they would like to argue with him, he had a point and they needed to know. This was going to be stomach-wrenching for everyone.

The key on top of his head started turning and their surroundings turned green as time flew back. Most of the activity in the area since the Titans had been here last was just alley cats catching and eating mice.

The key turned faster and time went back quicker, it was like watching a montage. A rather dull and boring one, but a montage nonetheless.

It kept going like this until Robin uttered, "Stop, this is it."

The key stopped momentarily then started slowly turning in the opposite direction. It was slow enough that it was almost as if they were watching it first hand when it happened and not just viewing it. It showed that the fight originally began in the street after the battle in the plant.

They watched as four of the Titans fought the android, who had absorbed the properties of something molten, possibly melted metal from the recycling plant. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that this would be a difficult battle even if all five of them were present.

Cyborg fires his sonic cannon at it, but it's able to counter it with an attack similar to that of a flamethrower from its palms. It shot a fireball at him, hitting him square in the chest and causing him to fly up the street, damaging the pavement in the process.

Robin gritted his teeth and threw several disks at it. One of the disks exploded, causing the others to be destroyed due to being in close proximity when the blast occurred. Inside those disks was liquid nitrogen, which splattered all over their molten enemy. The liquid nitrogen caused the melted metal to solidify, but not enough because it was still able to move, just much slower now.

Before it could cause anymore destruction, water suddenly shot at it from behind. The water was coming from Beast Boy, who had returned to his team and was transformed into an elephant; a broken fire hydrant next to where he stood.

It turned to face him and raised its hands to protect itself. It tried to approach him, but the water coming from his trunk slowed it down greatly. Before long it was completely hardened and stiff.

Starfire shot down powerful rays of starbolts onto it until a thick dust cloud made visibility of it zero. Raven used her psionic powers to lift two abandoned cars and bring them down onto the eye of the dirt storm. The gas lines in the two cars ignited as soon as she brought them down and caused the one spot in the street to set aflame.

Cyborg got up and rejoined his team to see the blaze burn. "Well, that's it."

"Yeah, that was a lot easier than I thought it would be," Beast Boy commented after turning back into his normal form.

"Too easy," Robin stated, starting to grow suspicious.

He was right to be that way. Earlier they couldn't defeat it even with the help of Beast Boy, so why was this instance different?

Only, it wasn't defeated. It came out of the fiery wreckage looking miraculously undamaged. It was no longer in the state it was in before, it was back in its normal form. Just because it was no longer hardened metal doesn't mean it wasn't dangerous.

Gritting his teeth, Cyborg ran towards it, leaped up and fired his sonic cannon at it. The attack was strong enough to send it flying up the alley.

"We can't let it get away from us again!" Robin commanded.

They ran down the alley to find it standing with its hand on the brick wall of the buildings. They all watched as it acquired a scheme exactly like the building wall.

Just as they thought that the fight was about to end. This thing had already taken a lot of them and doesn't seem ready to stop anytime soon.

Beast Boy turned into a jaguar and charged it, but it was easily able to fling him into one of the buildings. But how? How does it still have so much power after so much fighting? The Titans may not be the most powerful heroes in the country, or even the state, but they are not usually defeated so easily.

Raven's hands radiated her dark powers and she used them to lift a close by sun-beaten dumpster and brought it down onto it in an attempt to immobilize and capture it. This attempt was in vain, however, as it was able to smack it away with ease.

Cyborg ran at top speed and pounced it, much like a lion would do to a gazelle. He was able to knock it to the ground and pin it down by using his own body mass to his advantage.

He tried to punch it, but it kept evading the attack by moving its head and shifting its weight. He wasn't the only one who knew how to use their weight to their advantage. Each missed punch left a fist-sized, pothole-like indentation in the aged asphalt.

It moved its legs underneath him and kicked him off to the side. He slammed right into the wall, cracking it and almost knocking him out.

As it stood up off the ground Starfire fired her starbolts at it from behind. The blasts caused its back to crack like the fragile earth after an earthquake.

It turned in her direction and placed a hand on a nearby trash bin, absorbing the thin yet durable metal. She shot down another starbolt, but it bounced off of the strong, smooth surface and redirected right back at her with enough power to make her fall.

It relieved itself of its armor and made a run for it. It was time for it to complete the mission it was sent to accomplish on this world. Hopefully, it wasn't too late and hopefully it still had the time it needed to find the person it was sent to find.

Robin, believing it was off to cause more destruction and unaware of what it was trying to do, fired his grapple at it. The long rope wrapped itself around it like a magnetic attraction. The rope wrapped around its entire body, including its legs, and caused it to fall to the ground.

It stared at them as they discussed something, most likely what to do with it, and it struggled to break free. It turned its gaze to the empty and damaged street and saw an opportunity.

Although it was not obvious through the numerous battles it went through with the Titans, it had lost much of its power. It needed a way to rest and recharge its energy. In a city this would not be difficult, but it was given the order to attack anyone and anything that gets too close - the reason why it attacked them out of nowhere - and that would most surely draw some unwanted attention.

It would have no other choice but to improvise. And it saw an opportunity to recover its lost energy when a person in dark clothing walked by.

They turned their head slightly to peer down the alley when something caught their eye. They quickly looked away when they saw the Titans and started to walk faster, as if to get as far away from them as quickly as possible, but it wouldn't allow them to.

It broke free from the ropes and grabbed the person by the neck, bringing them close to it as they were hoisted up. Although it wasn't visible, the person's face was frozen with fear as they tried to get away, but it was simply too strong, even in its weakened state.

"Let him go!" Robin demanded, twirling his bo staff and taking out a couple of birdarangs from his utility belt.

It didn't listen to him, however, and did something nobody would have ever expected. It pried open its captive's mouth and forced its hand down his throat! They watched in absolute disgust and shock as its hand was followed by its entire arm and, before long, its entire body!

The unknown person was set down onto the ground and to his knees as he swallowed it. As soon as the last of it was down his throat, he met the surprised looks on the Titans' faces with a traumatized one.

He held onto his stomach and vomited onto the ground. Drops of an unknown fluid dripped from his face next to the vomitus. He collapsed to the side and trembled as more of his stomach contents poured out of his mouth.

They approached him with caution, not knowing what it could have done to him, to see who he is. Using his staff as a precaution, Robin pushed back the hood of his dark jacket to reveal his face.

Clockwork turned back into Ben and everything went back to normal. The three of them exchanged glances, now understanding why they were so reluctant to say anything about the android.

"How is something like that even possible?" Ben asked, almost shouting.

"I guess our Highbreed friend has some explaining to do," Kevin stated, cracking his knuckles.

"Do you know who the person is and where he is?" Gwen asked.

"Unfortunately, yes to both questions," Beast Boy answered grimly.

"Well, don't pause for suspense, who is he?" Kevin questioned impatiently.

"His name is XL Terrestrial, a freelance villain with a troubled past," Robin told them. "We knew right away that this case was high profile, so we took him with us back to Titans Tower, our headquarters."

"What's his condition?" Gwen questioned.

"He was in a coma for the first couple of days, since then his condition has been up and down these past couple of weeks," Cyborg informed.

The unknown person from the recycling plant had seen the entire story when shown by Clockwork. He bore a slight look of content behind his mask when it was over and saw that the person he was looking for was alive.

His expression then switched to a more determined and focused one. He pushed a couple of buttons on a device on his wrist and left. He could have stayed and dealt with them himself, but he had places to go and someone to see.

They were about to finish their conversation when a red laser beam was suddenly shot at them! They looked in the direction of the laser and saw twenty to thirty ninja-like soldiers.

"Friends of yours?" Ben questioned, activating the Ultimatrix.

"They're robot soldiers," Robin informed.

"Robots? Oh, man, this is going to be fun," Kevin smirked as he absorbed the material of a downspout drain. He was covered in a white painted metal armor. He morphed his arms and hands into lance-like blades and started slashing them.

Ben gave a smirk of his own, "And I have the perfect alien to deal with these guys!"

He pressed down on the face and was enveloped in the green light as he transformed. He turned into a short, white alien whose body appeared to be some kind of containment suit.

"Echo Echo!" he exclaimed, then groaned, "Oh, man! I wanted Upgrade. I can still make this work."

He made clones of himself and they started to take out the robots with their sonic screams. One of the robots they took out just happened to be near Starfire and Raven, who covered their ears as they made their attack.

"I had forgotten how loud Sonorosians can be," Starfire commented.

"They're louder than Beast Boy," she remarked in a deadpan tone.

Gwen smashed a few of them to pieces with her mana. Perhaps Kevin and her cousin Sunny were right, she mused, this was kind of fun.

It only took a few minutes for all of them to crush all the robots into tiny pieces. Just as they thought it was all over, more of them suddenly showed up out of thin air.

"Oh, come on!" an Echo Echo grumbled.

"This is getting annoying," another finished in the same way.

Then, he got an idea for how to deal with them. "Get them into a circle," one of them commanded. "I have an idea."

They were able to accomplish just that and he duplicated himself again. All of the Echo Echoes surrounded the robots and thus trapping them.

"Cover your ears!" one of them strongly urged.

"Do as he says!" Kevin shouted, he and Gwen already having covered their ears. All five of them did the same at their recommendation and his behest.

"Sonic Chamber!" an Echo Echo ordered.

They all let out a sonic scream and concentrated the sound waves directly onto the robots. It wasn't long before they were nothing more than bits of metal.

All of the duplicates came together and formed one Echo Echo. He touched the Ultimatrix symbol on his chest and turned back into Ben.

"Looks like that's the last of them," he stated.

"Question is: why did they attack us in the first place?" Gwen asked.

"What do you guys know about 'em?" Kevin asked the Titans.

"Usually when we fight these robots, it means that our old foe Slade can't be too far away," Robin responded.

"The guy's been trying to kill us for years," Beast Boy shrugged.

Then, the spiky-haired leader suddenly realized something, "If the robot commandos already knew where we were, then that means that Slade knows too!"

"Yeah, so?" Ben questioned.

"It means that he had a reason to know and might be searching for something," he stated.

"So he sent his robots as a distraction!" Kevin inferred from past experience.

Gwen quickly used her powers to know if someone really was there previously while they were there too. "Guys, someone was here and left in a hurry," she informed, her eyes widening.

Putting the pieces together, Robin commanded, "We need to get back to the Tower!"

Starfire grabbed onto Cyborg and lifted him as she flew away. Beast Boy morphed into a pterodactyl and Robin grabbed onto his ankles as he flew after them.

Raven stayed behind for a brief second to tell them, "Follow us," before she took off after her team.

Ben glanced at his friends, "You heard her."

They immediately went back to Kevin's car at the recycling plant and got inside. He drove back to the Rust Bucket and they followed them to their headquarters.

They flew across town and over the Pacific Ocean to an island just off the coast with a huge 'T' shaped tower. They landed on a landing platform on the roof. There Robin was already waiting for them with the door leading into the Tower open.

He greeted them as they walked out of the hatch, "Nice to see you got here alright."

Ben smiled with a slight shrug, "Look for the front side of the 'T' shaped tower."

He turned and gestures for them to follow, "Follow me, I'll show you where we have him."

They followed him inside the Tower and he led them to the room where they kept him in. The entire walk there was full of an awkward silence.

This was broken only by Kevin, "Nice place you got here."

He finally stopped in front of a room where the rest of his was, "This is it."

He opened the door and they all walked inside. Immediately, the three of them noticed the containment quarter that took up most of the room.

"You keep him in quarantine?" Gwen questioned, the anger rising in her voice was clearly audible.

"It's for our safety and his," Robin replied.

They walked up to the glass panel and peered inside. Inside, they saw XL Terrestrial laying on the floor, fresh vomitus was all over the floor along with papers strewn all around him.

"We have to get inside! I don't think he's conscious!" Ben shouted.

Before he could turn into one of his destructive or wraith aliens, Robin held up a remote and pressed a button. It opened a hidden door in the glass and they all rushed inside.

Gwen knelt down and used her powers to check his condition. "He's conscious, but just barely," she started.

"And he's fading quickly," Raven finished, after using her powers as well.

Cyborg lifted him up, "I'll take him to the infirmary."

He left the room and was followed by Beast Boy, Raven, and Kevin. Robin, Ben, Gwen, and Starfire stayed behind.

Robin picked up several of the papers on the floor and began to look through them. On the papers themselves were scratchy drawings. A broken pencil was on top of a paper, which he picked up and examined it.

On it was a drawing of four stick figures surrounding a fifth stick figure in the middle of a rectangle. The four figures had characteristics that resembled features that his friends had and the figure in the rectangle had spiky hair, just like him. The outside figures looked angry yet tears were falling down their circular faces like rain drops.

He put all the pieces together and realized that this was a paced drawing of a funeral. Not just any funeral though, _his _funeral.

Starfire noticed an angered and calculated look on her boyfriend's face, "Robin, what ails you?"

"This," he showed them the crude drawing.

Ben looked at it, but had no idea what it was exactly, "Okay, I'll bite, what is it?"

"A funeral. _My_ funeral," he answered grimly.

"S-So, it's a threat?" he asked, his voice shaky. "He's threatening you?"

Gwen closed her eyes and concentrated her powers on the paper and the drawing. "It's not a threat, it's more like a confession."

"A confession?" Starfire repeated.

She nodded, "While he was drawing this he was under a lot of stress and in a lot of overwhelming pain, but also guilt. At that moment, he wanted us to know something in case he loses consciousness and never wakes up."

While she was explaining it to them, Ben thought he heard instruments and someone shouting. He found the source: a dark red music player and black headphones.

The headphones acted as speakers as the final lyrics of the song "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden echoed eerily throughout the room.

_"And as I lay there gazing at the sky_

_My body's numb and my throat is dry._

_And as I lay forgotten and alone_

_Without a tear I draw my parting groan."_

X~X~X-O-v-O-X~X~X

**(A/N: Oh, man! I'm not gonna lie this took a lot out of me! But, hey, I got it done! And I'm proud of it. **:)

**Now, I can already hear you guys shouting, "XL Terrestrial?! WTF?!" You know what? There are just some things you have to trust me on. There is a reason for all this and it pretty much explains why the descriptions of his people and planet are so vague.**

**Reinrassig and Slade will appear very soon and everything will be cleared up. Again, you guys just have to trust me.**

**I recently put up a poll for my new story series. There aren't a lot of choices, but you can still check it out if you want.**

**I'm also currently working on a story involving the species of XLR8 and Fasttrack. It's pretty much a head cannon story if anything else.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N: In this chapter, our heroes will be getting a visitor and will form a reluctant alliance. This will also be the explanation of why the android felt the need to enter the body of an unwilling host. It'll also explain why the Highbreed sent it to Earth in the first place. It's going to be a long chapter! This is going to be a bitch.**

**But now, I think it's time for a little explaining of my own. I'm sure you guys have been itching to hear about the crazy theories I came up with that are the base for this crossover. I'll start with my theory about the Highbreed, my other one will be later. It won't be a full explanation of course since most of it will be explained in this.**

**In the episode "Vreedle, Vreedle" in "Alien Force" remember how there was a Highbreed bailiff in the courtroom of Judge Domstol? The genetic repair of the Highbreed DNA took place shortly before this and yet the Judge seems to be quite trusting of the bailiff. When Baz-L insults the Highbreed race and the bailiff gets angry, Judge Domstal has no reaction. Now, I suppose someone could say that outbursts in a courtroom are pretty common, but usually when that happens there's usually some kind of reaction from the Judge and usually more bailiffs show up and yet... nothing. My point is: don't you it's a little odd that Domstol wouldn't be hostile towards a Highbreed, but is to Kevin? And trusts a member of a species that tried to eradicate the entire universe just a few weeks prior at the very least?**

**All I'm saying is that it's entirely possible that at least some Highbreed didn't get involved in the universal genocide for one reason or another. The fact that the Judge doesn't have any reaction to the outburst indicates that he's probably been on Coda Coda for a while, possibly even years. I don't know about you guys, but if I was Judge Domstol I won't be so quick as to so easily trust any Highbreed, even if they had no involvement in the destruction of any race or planet.**

**Or it could be exactly what I've been thinking for a while now. The Highbreed were never the supremacist race we all believe them to be. Now, I hear what you guys are saying, I've heard it all before, so don't go there. What I mean is that if they were truly supremacists since the day they started believing in the philosophy of "the one true species", then wouldn't the Plumbers have stopped them before they had the chance to even start considering destroying anyone or anything?**

**Also, there's one more thing I'd like to point out here. If they had been inbreeding for thousands or possibly even millions of years, then they would've died out long before the events of "Alien Force". So, it leads me to think that the inbreeding epidemic was relatively recent. Recent enough to have affected the entire Highbreed race in such a way that they were down to their final generation.**

**It may not be much and largely circumstantial, but it's still something to go on and it is quite intriguing when you think about it. I understand if you don't think it's compelling or just rubbish, but like I said in the previous chapter, you just have to trust me. Some things will be cleared up in this chapter.**

**Just so you guys don't end up disappointed, Ben won't be transforming into many aliens in this chapter. The most he'll do will probably be two transformations at most. But everyone will start developing friendships with each other, which is something that I know you guys want to see.**

**One last thing before I forget; warning: mild racial slurs, some mentions of mental illness, physical and emotional illness, and a few more dark themes. I know this is a lot to take in, but I always feel like I have to say something. It will be continued in the next chapter too.)**

**V**~**X**~O~**X**~**V**

After they finished looking through the containment quarter, the four of them decided to meet up with the others at the infirmary. It was just one floor above them, so it wouldn't be a very long walk.

Once there, they walked inside and found Cyborg and Kevin observing the monitors on his condition. While Beast Boy and Raven were looking at his unconscious form through a protective glass window.

"How is he?" Robin questioned as soon as they walked in.

"All the monitors and everything say he's fine," Kevin replied.

"All of his vitals are good, they all say there's nothing wrong with him," Cyborg added.

"People don't go unconscious because they're in good health, there's gotta be something wrong," he asserted. "Maybe it's something that the equipment can't pick up?"

"It's nothing physical or neurological," Raven spoke. "It's closer to something emotional."

This got everyone's attention. "What do you mean 'emotional'?" Ben asked, beginning to grow nervous and concerned.

"Think about it. There are two beings inhabiting the same body, there's bound to be some kind of conflict," she told them in an almost ominous manner.

Gwen went up to the glass and used her powers to check for herself. "She's right," she spoke, almost sounding terrified, "he's healthy physically, but his mind is fading."

"So, you mean he's going brain-dead?!" Beast Boy shrieked.

"Dead?!" Starfire panicked.

"The monitors would show if he was going brain-dead," Cyborg mentioned, reassuring them, but also confusing him in the process.

"No. It's more like he's losing touch with himself," Raven uttered.

"So, it's like a brainwashing thing?" Kevin questioned.

"No-" Gwen paused for a second, then asked, "You guys know what Stockholm Syndrome is right?"

"Yeah, it's where the victim begins to sympathize with their captor, especially when they believe their life is empty and meaningless," Ben answered. Almost everyone in the room looked at him with a surprised look, "What?"

"It's just that," his cousin started.

"You sound smart for once," her boyfriend finished.

"Back on topic, how could that thing-" Cyborg started before getting cut off.

"It's called Angelos," Kevin corrected rudely.

"How could Angelos possibly have any kind of influence over him?" he questioned.

"While we were fighting it, it was acting like an agent on a mission," Robin informed, which was what they already knew.

"Which is exactly how it was programmed," Ben stated.

Beast Boy then realized something, "Every time we had a conversation he would use words that a soldier would use."

"Beast Boy mentioned his troubled past mere hours earlier," Starfire informed.

All eyes were on him for information, "He once told me that he lost his entire family at just eight-years-old and almost died seven times that same year."

Gwen's eyes widened slightly in realization, "So, that's it!"

"What is it, Gwen?" her cousin questioned.

Before she could say anything, a warning sound came from the monitors and there were blinking red lights. Everyone quickly gathered around the screens to see what was happening.

"What's going on?" Ben asked, close to shouting.

"His stress levels are way off the charts. Most people can't survive this kind of stress for very long!" Cyborg yelled in a panic.

They went to the observation window to see his state. From where they stood, it looked like he was just lying on the bed, inconsistent with what the monitors were showing, but a closer look showed that he was squirming and possibly trembling.

Ben tried to open the door, but couldn't, "It's stuck!"

Kevin went over and shoved him away, "Outta the way, Tennyson!"

He knelt down and absorbed the metal in the doorknob. He shaped his finger into something reminiscent of a key and picked the lock with it. It took a little time, but he was eventually able to open it. They immediately went to his bedside as soon as it was.

They saw that his eyes were tightly shut and he was sweating profusely; the bed sheets were damp with his perspiration. He was trembling so much that you would think an earthquake was happening, or an aftershock at the very least. He was apparently still asleep because he was punching and kicking left and right, but never in a specific direction nor directed at a specific person.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?!" Beast Boy shouted after a fist punched the air near his head.

"He's still asleep. He doesn't know what's going on or what he's doing," Raven claimed, her eyes glowing white, indicating that she was using her powers.

"Then let's wake him up," Kevin submitted, absorbing the wall, obviously ready to do whatever it takes.

"I may not be a physician, however, I believe it to be a mistake should we wake him in his current state," Starfire advised.

"She's right," Gwen agreed. "Whatever's going on in his head, it's clearly getting him worked up and violent. If we wake him up, he'll still be partially asleep and may not be able to distinguish what's real and what's a dream."

"Meaning he could lash out at us thinking that we're whatever he's dreaming about," Robin inferred.

"Could you or Raven cast some kind of relaxation spell or something?" Ben asked her quickly.

"My spells would only put him into a deeper sleep, I'm not sure what could happen if I use them on him," she claimed.

"I'm going to try something." Raven's eyes glowed white and she knelt down at his bedside near his head. She gently placed her hands on his temples and closed her eyes.

Within seconds his limbs dropped flat onto the bed and he went back into a peaceful slumber. His eyelids also relaxed and his breathing was calm.

Cyborg went back to scan his vitals and the monitors, he let out a sigh in relief, "He's out of danger y'all! That was a close one."

"Too close for comfort," Ben placed a hand on his chest.

"What did you do?" Gwen asked, very intrigued.

"I went into his mind and told him to calm down," she answered.

"Incredible," she gasped. "Can you show me how to do that?" She nodded with a small smile.

A low yet loud growl suddenly echoed in the room, catching everyone off guard. It caused them to jump slightly in shock and look around for the source.

"What's that sound?" Ben asked.

"Sounds like either an Appoplexian or a Vulpimancer," Kevin commented, his armor now gone.

Beast Boy giggled in embarrassment, "Sorry, guys, haven't had breakfast yet."

As if on cue, Ben and Kevin's stomachs growl too in unison. Ben scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess we're pretty hungry too."

"Come on, let's go have breakfast," Robin was about to walk out of the room, when Cyborg stopped him.

"Are you sure we should just, you know, leave?" he asked with clear uncertainty.

"I'm not entirely sure if it's a good idea myself," he admitted, "but we can't just drop everything because we're afraid something will happen."

"I guess you're right," he caved in. He smiled and looked at his wrist, "Besides, it's almost time for me to kick BB's butt in video games!"

"Say, you guys wouldn't happen to have any Sumo Slammers games would you?" Ben asked with a smile.

"Only every game ever made!" Beast Boy grinned enthusiastically.

"Then what are we waiting for?" All three of them eagerly ran out of the room.

Everyone else followed them soon afterwards. The last person to leave the room was Robin, who gave a long glance to their unconscious "guest" before he turned out the lights and left.

* * *

While breakfast was being made in the kitchen, everyone was doing their own thing. Cyborg, Ben, and Beast Boy were playing a Sumo Slammers game, Kevin kicked back on the couch and watched, and Gwen was with Raven in her room looking through some of her spellbooks and magical objects.

Breakfast was being made by Robin and Starfire. He was really only there to make sure that she didn't try to slip some Tamaranian ingredients into the food.

One of the sumo wrestler avatars pushed another, almost knocking him to the ground. "Ha!" Beast Boy guffawed, "Got you again!"

Cyborg gritted his teeth and grumbled, "Arrogant little grass stain!"

He stood up on the couch, "Say what you want but you…" his avatar did a foot sweep "...are…" he lifted him up by the belt "...beat!" he finished him off with a _tsuri-dashi_, or lift-out.

His victory was cut short by Ben, "Don't be celebrating so soon!"

His avatar did an _Ipponzeoi_, or a one-armed shoulder throw, then a _Komatasukui_, or an over thigh scooping body drop, to his and defeated him. He smiled confidently and crossed his arms as his new friend's jaw dropped and then started fuming.

"How?!" he shouted, clearly outraged. If he were any angrier, he would be ripping his hair out.

"Years of practice," he replied smugly, folding his arms behind his head.

"Can someone go get Raven and Gwen?" Robin asked. "Breakfast is ready."

"I'll get them," Beast Boy volunteered and got up from the sofa.

In Raven's bedroom, the two girls were looking through each other's respective spellbooks. Gwen was looking through the Book of Azar, while she was looking through her Grimoire.

"I have to admit some of these spells are pretty impressive," Raven told her.

"Your's are too," she replied.

"Who taught you how to use magic?" she asked.

"No one, I first used the Charms of Bezel, then I got a hold of an old enemy's spellbook and I've been using magic ever since," she explained.

"It took me a few years before I could use magic properly," she told her, smiling slightly.

"Well, I think it has something to do with being an Anodite," she responded. "An Anodite is an energy being with the power to manipulate mana."

"You said that mana is the source of all life energy," she remembered.

She nodded and started to look through the pages of her spellbook, which was still in her hands, "I can show you some of my favorite spells to use."

Before she could really show her anything, there was a knock at the door. Raven opened it and saw it was Beast Boy.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Breakfast is ready," he answered.

They closed their books and left the room. All three of them were hungry and ready for something to eat. As was everyone else.

Once everyone was in the kitchen, it was an all-you-can-eat buffet. They all got plates and filled them with as much food as they could carry. It was finally time to kick back a little and enjoy a well deserved breakfast.

This was unfortunately short-lived, however. Alarms started blaring throughout the Tower just minutes after they started to dig in.

"Oh, come on!" Beast Boy groaned after swallowing his tofu eggs.

"That alarm can't mean anything good," Kevin uttered.

"It doesn't," Robin corroborated sternly. "There's an intruder somewhere in the Tower."

"I'll take a look around," Ben stated.

He activated the Ultimatrix and searched through his playlist. He hit the face and the green light enveloped him. He transformed into a slim, black and blue furred alien with feline-like features.

"Fasttrack!" he exclaimed. He turned to his friends, "I'll alert you when I find something." He quickly took off leaving a blue and black trail behind him.

"While he's off doing that," Gwen started, "I can use my powers to sense if there are any additional lifeforms inside."

She used her levitation powers and crossed her legs, going into a meditative state. She concentrated her mana and the mana of everyone inside. It only took her a few seconds for her to find exactly what she was looking for.

She set herself on the floor and looked at everyone with a worried face, "We have a problem, our intruder is in the infirmary!"

Everyone's eyes went wide and they all immediately rushed to the infirmary. There was no time to waste.

Kevin took out his Plumber badge and contacted Ben through the built in communicator, "Ben! Meet us in the infirmary!"

"_Copy_ _that_," he replied through his Ultimatrix.

By the time they got there, Fasttrack was already in the room. The lights were still off, but he appeared to be using his sharp arm blades to someone wearing some kind of armor.

The lights were turned on and they could see who he was fighting. He was fighting a muscular man with considerable height. The man wore black and gray body suit along with some basic armor, a utility belt, boots, gloves, and a mask. The mask was what stood out about him, it was black on the right side and orange on the left. It someone the Titans immediately recognized.

Robin gritted his teeth and spat, "Slade!"

"That's the guy that sent those robots?" Kevin asked.

Cyborg nodded, "He's one of the toughest guys we've ever fought."

He smirked and absorbed the metal in the medical equipment, "This is going to be fun."

Before he could get in on the action, however, Fasttrack was hurled at them and the momentum carried his body straight into Kevin's. The impact caused them to slam into the wall. Fasttrack turned back into Ben and Kevin groaned as he lost his armor.

Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire immediately went into battle. Gwen was about to join them, when she noticed Raven's eyes glowing and she appeared to be ruminating.

"What's wrong? Do you sense something?" she asked.

"Yes, but I'm not really sure what to make of it," she replied.

"What is it?" she asked again.

"Normally when we fight Slade, the typical emotions I sense coming from him are of someone who's calm and confident of themselves, that nothing can or will go wrong," she explained.

"What kind of emotions are feeling from him now?" she questioned, intrigued by what she was saying.

"I'm getting the feeling of someone who's worried, concerned. Not for themselves, but for someone else. It's almost in a fatherly way," she answered, her voice almost sounding a little crestfallen.

Her eyes widened when she heard this and she felt sympathy for the man who was supposedly quite dangerous. The only question on her mind was: who was he so concerned about? Surely it couldn't have been one of the Titans, could it?

Her questions were answered when she heard a distressed groan come from the bed the unwitting host of Angelos was sleeping in. She noticed that he would often block attacks that were accidentally directed at him. Hardly the behavior of a cold-hearted psychopath.

She used her powers to create a wall of mana that separated them. She knew of the risks and possible outcomes of her actions, but she decided to take a gamble anyway.

"Gwen! What are you doing?!" Kevin shouted.

"Wait! I don't think he's here to cause us any trouble!" she tried to reason with them.

"Yeah, right!" Beast Boy scoffed at the notion, "He's been trying to kill us for years!"

"She's right," Slade spoke, "I'm not here to fight you, Titans."

"A likely story," Cyborg hissed.

"He's telling the truth," Raven told them. "I can sense his sincerity."

"If you're not here to fight, then why are you here?" Ben questioned.

He turned towards the sleeping XL Terrestrial, "I'm here for him."

Everyone, with the exception of Gwen and Raven, was on the fence at his statement. Not really certain of what to make of the situation. In spite of how they felt, they had their powers and weapons ready to strike if needed just in case.

He reached down and nudged his shoulder in an attempt to wake him, but he did not. He tried it again, but he still slept. As a last effort, he gently caressed his cyan cheek and, miraculously, it woke him up.

His head was still spinning and it was difficult for him to make out the person that awakened him. All he could see was a black and orange blur.

He rubbed his eyes and blinked several times in an attempt to clear his vision. It didn't work the first time or the second time, but eventually he was able to make out the features of the vividly familiar mask. It was someone he immediately recognized.

He smiled weakly and grabbed onto his arm, "Slade…"

It was all he could muster before dizziness and tiredness took over once again. He was about to go back into another slumber, but Robin had a few questions to ask him first.

He went to the other side of the bed and tapped on his cheek to keep him awake, "Stay with us, I need to ask you something."

He groaned and muttered, "Go... ahead."

He showed him the piece of paper with the rough drawing he found in the containment quarter. "Tell me what this is," he demanded.

He looked at it and narrowed his eyes, "Too… sick." He pointed a shaky finger at the masked man next to him, "Ask him."

He showed the drawing to Slade and growled, "Talk!"

He looked at it, then at him and replied with a very amused voice, "Ah, so he triggered it after all."

He gritted his teeth, "You better start talking!"

"Before my demise at the hands of your old friend Terra and even before I took in you as my apprentice," Robin's eyes narrowed to the point of being as sharp as knives, he was unfazed by this and continued, "I gave him a device that would release a hallucinogen stored in a capsule inside the mask of my robotic replica. I told him he could trigger it whenever he wanted, but I never thought he would."

The entire time this was happening, he was nodding off to sleep and it was taking everything he could muster just to stay awake. He gave a weak glare to Slade when he implied his qualms. He barely seemed to notice though.

"He gave no... specifics, but I was... able to... figure it… out," he slurred.

He put the pieces together and came to his conclusion, "Hence the drawing, you felt guilty about it, didn't you?"

He gave no response, instead closing his large eyes and reopening them slowly. It was the closest he could do to a nod.

He seemed to understand this and went on in a reassuring manner, "I don't blame you for what happened to me." He gave a death glare to the man in front of him, "I do blame you though."

"I had nothing to do with it, you were the one who took the mask," he replied pointedly.

He had no way to respond to this because, truthfully, he was right. It was his fault for taking the mask in the first place. He should have known better and not let his borderline obsessive personality get the better of him. He would never admit this though, he would never admit it because he would be agreeing with a madman.

"Can I… sleep now?" he asked.

He broke out the state he was in, "Oh! Yeah, you can go back to sleep."

Even though he had been nodding off to sleep for a little while now, he didn't fall asleep right away. This was partially due to catching a glimpse of the Ultimatrix. His vision was still quite blurry, but he was able to make out the familiar symbol on its face.

He smiled shakily and weakly uttered, "Plumb...ers." After he said the single word, he fell back into a deep slumber.

What he said greatly confused everyone, save for the three who already knew what he was talking about and the one whom nobody could ever tell was intrigued or could care less. Though, in this case, he was more curious and intrigued by this if anything.

"'Plumbers?'" Beast Boy repeated. "Is there a problem with his toilet or something?"

"No," Gwen started, "what he's talking about is completely different from ordinary plumbers."

"The Plumbers are an intergalactic law enforcement agency," Ben informed. "The three of us are all deputized Plumbers."

"In fact, we're the only law enforcement in this entire quadrant of space," Kevin added with hints of smugness.

Gwen and Kevin showed them their badges, while Ben simply held up the Ultimatrix. All three symbols were identical.

Beast Boy looked at them with amazement, "Cool! How can I get one?"

Ben chuckled, "You'd have to go through Plumbers' Academy."

"Or get deputized out in the field by a Magister," Gwen added.

"In our case, we had to go through both because our training was incomplete," Kevin told them.

"Changing the subject, why are you really here, Slade?" Robin questioned harshly.

"Always so straightforward," he remarked with levity, then went right to the point, "I'm here to forge an alliance with you."

"You're joking, right?" Ben asked with clear uncertainty.

"No, he's serious. He really wants to help us," Raven spoke.

"How do we know we can trust you?!" Robin demanded.

"You're still alive, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically, his voice flat.

"He's completely sincere with the things he says," Raven pointed out.

"And XL does seem to trust him," Cyborg added.

"Not to mention if he's as strong as you say then he could be a valuable asset," Ben submitted.

After a few more assertions, a decision was finally made. It may end up becoming something they would regret later, but in this line of work you just have to take some risks.

Robin had the pleasure of informing him of the decision, "Alright, Slade, it's a deal, but one double-cross and you've got a date with a jail cell."

He glanced at the sleeping teenage villain beside him, then back at them and nodded, "Fine."

While this was going on, Gwen just couldn't help but notice something a little unusual about him. She noticed that his hands were noticeably pale compared to the rest of his body.

Kevin rudely cut in on their jaw when his stomach growled, "I don't know about you guys, but gonna go back to my breakfast."

"Ditto to that," Beast Boy agreed.

They were just about to leave the room, when Kevin noticed Ben messing with the Ultimatrix. He was tapping on the face and turning the dial numerous times.

"Hey, Tennyson, you coming?" he asked.

He snapped out of what he was trying to figure out, "Oh, yeah, I'm coming."

The three of them left, while everyone else stayed behind for a little longer. When they got back to the living room, they found it in a mess.

Food was scattered all over the floor and drinks were spilled. Broken pieces of ceramic from at least one plate were everywhere. When they looked over the couch, they saw a big mutated silkworm eating their food.

Beast Boy gripped his hair and shrieked, "Silkie!"

Kevin gritted his teeth and jumped over the sofa, absorbing the floor as soon as he landed. He morphed his hand into a mallet, "You're ground meat, worm."

He was about to just that when a purple, orangish-tan, and red blur swooped in and stopped him. The blur was actually Starfire, who picked up the mutant worm.

"Apologies, friends, I must have forgotten to feed him," she looked ashamed of herself.

Cyborg groaned when he saw his empty plate, "I guess that's what we get for leaving our food out when we have a pet worm that eats everything."

Gwen couldn't help but notice that her cousin was uncharacteristically quiet. As a kid it used to scare her when he was too quiet. She saw that he was messing around with the Ultimatrix again, he looked either really ticked off or confused about something.

"Ben, what's wrong?" she asked.

"I just can't figure out why it doesn't seem interested in his DNA," he answered.

"Maybe there's already a sample of his species in there," Kevin put his oar in.

'Maybe,' he thought with serious doubt.

"How many aliens do you have in there anyway?" Beast Boy asked, snapping him out of his state.

"Sixty-three unlocked aliens," he answered.

"What do you mean 'unlocked aliens'?" Robin asked.

"It actually has over a million DNA samples from across the galaxy, but I can only use sixty-three of them," he replied.

"Over a million aliens?!" Beast Boy shrieked. "Dude, that's crazy! How can you use them?"

"I'd only be able to use all the aliens if I have Master Control," he responded.

"How could you get something like that?" he asked again.

He shrugged, "I don't know. I've been asking Azmuth, the creator of the Ultimatrix, for years, but he keeps telling me to figure it out on my own or 'maybe for my eighteenth birthday'."

"Guys, we could use some help," Kevin chimed in, his hand morphed into a shovel and carrying shards of ceramic.

They cleaned up the mess Silkie made while they were in the infirmary. Let this be a lesson to pet owners to never just leave stuff lying around, otherwise it's one hell of a mess to clean up.

"Well, I guess we'll get started on another breakfast," Cyborg spoke after they finished cleaning.

"Actually," Ben started, "I was thinking that we should call an old friend of ours and ask him about the android." He went up to the computer and started typing, "Mind if I use your computer?"

"Go ahead," Robin replied.

He continued typing until he logged into a communications system. The system was apparently encrypted because he appeared to be having trouble with contacting someone.

He looked at his cousin, "Gwen?" She nodded.

He got up from the chair and she took his place. She started typing on it, then held up her Plumber badge and was able to gain access into it.

Just minutes later, she got up from the chair when she was able to successfully use the system. The screen was very staticy as it tried to get into contact with whomever they were contacting.

The static cleared and a red and orange Highbreed with yellow eyes appeared. "What sort of insignificant speck would dare be foolish enough to contact the Highbreed Council?" he demanded roughly.

Calmly, Ben lifted his arm and pulled down his sleeve. Gwen and Kevin were equally as calm as they raised their badges.

The Highbreed's eyes widened and he immediately apologized, "M-My apologies, Ben Tennyson. To what do we bestow the honor of you contacting us?"

"Tell the Highbreed Supreme that an old friend is calling and tell him it's urgent," he replied, his voice beginning to turn serious.

He vehemently nodded and left to do just that. It was almost amusing to see the drastic change in his behavior. From hostility to apprehension.

Soon, a seemingly average Highbreed with a green arm came into view. In the background two Highbreed stood behind him, the one that so 'kindly' greeted them and another with blue and green coloring.

Ben smiled when he saw him, "Reiny, it's been awhile."

"It has only been two weeks since we have last spoken," he reminded him dryly.

"It's just an expression," he explained. "Like a metaphor or a simile."

He seemed to understand and immediately got right to the point, "I have been hoping to hear from you for some time, Ben-Ben Tennyson. Tell me, have you found Angelos?"

He looked around the room nervously before he finally answered, "Uh, yes and no."

"Elaborate," his voice now low with dissatisfaction.

He turned to look at the Titans with a nervous smile, "Care to elaborate for him?"

"Unbelievable," Gwen had her hands on her hips.

Robin looked at his team and saw that most of his teammates were quite intimidated by the tall alien. He took a step forward, "I will."

"Who are you?" he questioned.

"I'm Robin," he introduced himself, then gestured to his friends, "and this is my team. We're the Teen Titans."

He eyed the young team and his eyes landed on Starfire, "You have a Tamaranian."

"Is that a problem?" he questioned aggressively.

"Not at all," he assured, "Tr- Tamaranians are quite powerful. They are a prime example of deceiving appearances." He then got back on topic and questioned, "Where is Angelos?"

He took a deep breath and explained, "When we got back to our city after a... long trip, a creature suddenly attacked us and we started fighting it all over town. Just when we thought we took it down, it attacked a bystander and…" he paused and swallowed his tension, "it went inside of his body."

Surprisingly, he doesn't look disgusted by his story, he appeared to be more worried than anything else, but it was hard to tell, "I see. Continue."

"We immediately took him back with us to our headquarters and put him in quarantine when he finally came out of a coma," he finished.

"What is his condition?" he asked.

"He's asleep right now and seems to be doing okay. According to Beast Boy, his condition goes up and down," he informed, gesturing to his friend.

He swallowed nervously and told him what he observed, "Just yesterday when I was giving him his breakfast, he was doing a bunch of exercises. Later when I gave him his dinner, he started to look sluggish."

"He's fighting back," he uttered.

"His body might be fighting back, but his mind isn't," Raven spoke. "I felt it. It has some kind of influence over him and I think has to do with that he can sympathize with it."

"I felt it too," Gwen backed up her claim. "He's allowing it to influence him. He's not fighting it, he might be embracing it."

"That is a problem," he stated.

"Perhaps he doesn't want any help," Slade chimed in. "After all, it's a lot harder to save someone who doesn't want to be saved, isn't it?"

"What I still can't figure out is how it could possibly go inside of him or influence him at all?" Cyborg questioned.

For several seconds, he said nothing until he decided to reveal a shocking revelation. It was quite the bombshell and very unbelievable yet also believable all at once.

"To answer your first question, it is because of one of my bioengineers," he answered, his tone slightly ominous.

"I know this might be something that I'll regret asking, but… what happened?" Kevin asked, slightly hesitant.

"One of my bioengineers who had a hand in the design and creation of Angelos confided in me that DNA and tissue samples taken from a Xenocite leftover from the war were used as the basis of its genetic material," he explained. "It wasn't until after Angelos was sent to Earth that I was informed of this."

"If it has Xenocite DNA then it all makes sense," Gwen stated.

"It does?" Beast Boy asked, very confused.

She nodded and explained, "Xenocites instinctively attach to a host's body and rewrite their DNA to turn them into DNAliens. Since it forced him to swallow it, that could mean it was having trouble attaching to him and entered his body in a panic. Its ability to absorb matter could have something to do with his illness."

"She is correct," he agreed with her claims. "Angelos was created with the abilities of an Osmosian in mind. They have the ability to absorb matter, energy, and power among other abilities as well. It would not surprise me if it is indeed what ails him."

"That must be how it was able to defeat us so easily," Cyborg stated, his eyes widening.

Then, something hit Ben like a brick wall and he immediately turned to Reinrassig, "Wait a minute, I thought all the DNAliens were either turned back into humans or destroyed during the war!"

"They were," he confirmed, which relieved several people, that is until he continued, "...only on Earth and several of the worlds that were invaded. We kept the rest to use in experiments."

"Experiments?!" he exclaimed, along with many others.

"Why would you ever keep them?! I thought you considered them to be 'half-breed vermin'?!" Kevin shouted.

"Rest assured, we did not keep them with the intent to use them in the invasion of other worlds," he reassured. "We kept them to rewrite their DNA in order to change their behavior."

They all looked at him absolutely dumbstruck. Sure, they believed him when he claimed that they wouldn't be used in terrorism, sort of, but it was still difficult to comprehend.

He noticed their expressions and explained, "You see, long ago Frieden, the Highbreed Supreme of the time, decided to create a race of protectors in order to protect the solar system in which they resided. Eventually, inhabitants of other planets heard of this and requested protectors for their home worlds as well. Due to the high demand for them, they were given the ability to reproduce along with an artificial planet to reside on. He called them the Locrix."

"The Locrix?!" the Titans all exclaimed in unison.

"Guys, what's wrong?" Ben questioned.

"We were told that the Locrix were a malevolent, genocidal race," Robin informed.

"You are partially correct. Centuries ago, they rebelled against us and began to attack the people they were supposed to protect," he confirmed his claim. "We believed it to be due to the Locrix becoming too intelligent and they were immediately shut down."

"But they weren't shut down, we fought them," he avowed.

"I see. One year ago there was a breech in the system that kept them out of commission. The Plumbers in that quadrant checked it out, but found nothing," he stated.

Now, this was something that was a real head-scratcher for everyone. The Titans had fought the Locrix and saw them get put out of commission. Ben and his team had been around the Plumbers their entire lives and wondered why they never heard of this.

"However," he continued, "there were some who refused to believe their claims. They decided to send two Locrix to each planet where there had been a Locrix protector. When the Highbreed Supreme before me got word that none of them came back, he used it as an excuse to declare war against the entire Universe."

"This is all very interesting," Slade interjected, "but what does this have to do with the android? More importantly, what message could it possibly be protecting that's so important?"

He sent him a look that could only be paralleled to a glare. He was silent for a second, before he finally explained his reasons, "While searching through the records of the Highbreed Counsel, I stumbled across an account of an investigation into the malfunction of the Locrix. Most of it was destroyed, however, I was able to decipher a key piece of evidence that proves the Locrix did not attack the innocent due to a glitch in their DNA, they were tampered with. Once I learned of this," he looked at Ben, "I requested Angelos to be created to send this information to you, Ben-Ben Tennyson. It was given strict orders to find you at all costs." He looked at the Titans, "When it landed in your city by mistake, it must have panicked and went on a rampage."

"So, XL Terrestrial really is just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Robin uttered, mostly to himself.

There had always been a small glimmer of doubt in his mind about whether or not the fact that a potentially dangerous villain just happened to be in the same area where they were during that time. This seems to prove that he's really just an innocent victim in all this.

"Bring this XL Terrestrial to me," he instructed. "I wish to see his condition for myself."

**V**~**X**~O~**X**~**V**

**(A/N: Yup! Once again, I was right! This was a bitch to write and to finish. This is the longest chapter I've ever written.**

**The other theory will be in the next chapter and hopefully it won't be as long as this one. I really don't care if you don't think it's a good enough theory to go off of. Last I checked, you're not the one who's writing this, I am. If you guys think it's intriguing, you're more than welcome to add on to it.**

**I recently put up a poll in my profile if you didn't know, you can check it out if you want. Anyway, I'm really busy with other stuff right now, so I'm gonna wrap this up.)**


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N: Warning: the themes mentioned in the previous chapter are continued in this one. There could also be some parts that could be a trigger or a little disturbing, but nothing to really have any concern about.**

**As mentioned previously, my other theory will be explained in this chapter. Not until the end of the chapter and there is a reason for that.**

**Also, before I forget, one of the most powerful characters in "Ben 10" will be making an appearance. I won't spoil who it is since that would kind of make the point of reading this chapter pointless.)**

O~**V**~O-0-**X**-0-O~**V**~O

As soon as he made the request, Slade was the one who volunteered himself to go get him, much to the dismay of Robin. Ben and Beast Boy went along with him and assured him that they would make sure he does exactly that and nothing else.

They came back with him just a few minutes later. He was standing, but was slumped over and had to lean on someone as they half-supported, half-dragged him over to the sofa.

"This is him," Ben told his friend as they carefully set him down.

"He does not look well," he observed.

He held the side of his head, "I... feel... better than I... did an... hour ago."

"Don't look any better," Kevin remarked, to which he received a weak glare in return.

"I have never seen a Tyro Yagon beforehand," Reinrassig commented.

"Is that what he is?" the Osmosian asked. "I thought they were all wiped out ten years ago."

"Not all... just the majority. You're looking... at the... only one in... this entire... solar system," he claimed, his voice wretched yet slightly prideful.

"Tell me, how do you fare with Angelos inhabiting your body?" the Highbreed questioned, getting straight to the topic at hand, his voice full of seriousness and slight curiosity.

"Sick, tired…" he trailed off, leaning his head on Slade's shoulder when he started to feel a little dizzy. "What more can... I say?"

"Have you noticed anything unusual?" he asked.

"I have felt... weakness in my limbs and… my vision is a little blurry," he replied.

"Not to mention you lashed out at us while you were asleep," Cyborg mentioned.

"I- what?" he inquired, very confused.

"Yeah, you were asleep and started thrashing," Ben told him.

He shot up from Slade's shoulder in utter shock. His face turned into one full of guilt and fear at this information.

"I was able to calm you down. Don't worry, you didn't hurt anyone," Raven reassured.

"Is there anything else unusual?" Reinrassig asked.

He shook his head and held his head again when it caused him a little pain. He finally answered when the pain stopped, "Nothing... I have noticed."

"I have," Gwen spoke.

"You... have? What is it?" he asked, almost sounding a little scared.

"Your hands. I noticed in the infirmary that your hands were pale compared to the rest of your body," she explained.

He looked down at his hands to see for himself and jumped with a light squeak. This was something that had never happened to him before and it scared him. Sure, similar things had happened when he was younger, but never this.

"What the hell?!" he shrieked, his voice was still weak, though his words were clearer.

The Highbreed took a closer look and all four of his eyes widened, "This is bad. Listen to me, you have to stop resisting."

"Resisting?" Beast Boy repeated. "I thought you said it was, like, trying to control him or something?"

"Yes and no," he responded cryptically.

"Okay, stop with the riddles," Kevin interjected roughly. "What's wrong with him?"

"Though his mind might give into it, his body won't. His body is resisting, which will only make it worse. It is the Xenocite DNA that is the cause of this," he explained.

Ben turned to his friends, "Remember that guy we helped, uh, Tyler? He was a DNAlien too and he was able to resist the Xenocite. His mind fought back, but his body didn't. Don't you see? That's exactly what's going on here."

"What's going to happen if he doesn't stop resisting?" Cyborg asked.

"It will take over his body and there will be nothing we can do to turn him back once it happens," he answered ominously.

Everybody's eyes widened in shock and their jaws dropped at what they were just told. It was a truly terrifying thought to think about, especially when someone has either witnessed it, gone through it, or is going through it.

"Is there any way to stop it before it takes complete control over his body?" Robin questioned.

"There is," he confirmed, "but it is quite high-risk and it may not be suitable for him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ben asked, his voice fearful and his eyes as wide as saucers.

"Most of the medical equipment we have is suitable for Highbreed only, not a Tyro Yagon," he replied.

"And, unfortunately, there's nothing on Earth that can help him," Gwen added.

"Tyro Yagon medical equipment is quite hard to come by," he mentioned, "they are scarce in numbers."

"Don't remind me," he spat lowly, most likely to himself if anything, though it was clearly heard by everyone, including Reinrassig.

"You watch your tone when speaking to me, mongr-" he paused briefly, "Tyro Yagon."

"Sorry," he apologized. "I... I just hate being... reminded of what happened... to my people."

"Apology accepted," he forgave him, slightly impressing Ben and his team, especially since they were very familiar with the typical behavior of the Highbreed, "XL Terrestrial."

"You can... just call me XL or Xilo," he gave a small, soft smile.

"Just out of curiosity," Ben started, getting his attention, "what exactly happened to your people?"

His expression went bitter, "It was the Kreel... warriors of the Sangtee Empire. Those bastards took everything from me... and millions more."

"The Kreel scum have enslaved and conquered many beings across the universe," Reinrassig mentioned. "Along with their strongest ally, the Vernethians, they are powerful."

XL shuddered at the mere mention of the tyrants that made him an orphan, "Don't talk about those... bastards."

Robin then remembered something and realized something else that hit him like a ton of bricks, "We once met a Vernethian, Val-Yor, he said he-"

"Val-Yor?!" both XL and Reinrassig angrily shouted in unison.

"Where and when did you meet that scum?" the Highbreed Supreme inquired in extreme fury, as if he was interrogating them.

"We saw some kind of machines fly right by our Tower, then he showed up and took them out," he explained, somewhat hastily. "He told us they were Locrix and that they were trying to wipe out all organic life in the universe."

"Lies!" he roared suddenly.

"Woah, woah, Reiny, just chill out a little," Ben tried to calm down his friend.

"Back then, I thought they came to Earth to harm us," he continued, "but looking back, I think they were actually trying to get away from him."

"Those Vernethian dirtbags are nothing more than liars who care about nothing but themselves! They would wipe out an entire race just to earn fast money!" XL declared angrily, the first time he was able to keep his voice from slurring.

As a result of this outburst, he felt a sudden rush of pain and dizziness in his head. He had to lean on Slade's shoulder again, he was nearly close to passing out again.

Kevin went over to them and tapped on his cheek in an attempt to keep him awake. He looked up at Reinrassig, "I don't mean to be rude here, but he's going to pass out in two minutes. Better speed this up."

"Xilo, please listen, you must stop resisting, allow it to control you. If you don't, you may lose your sense of self forever," he warned in a disquiet voice.

At that moment it felt as if everything had suddenly stopped for several days, when it was just a second. His eyes were now wide open and sharp, the expression on his face was blank and determined.

He stood up from the couch and walked up to the screen. He looked up at the being on the screen and knelt down like a knight to his king.

"Highbreed Supreme, I am yours to command," his voice was flat and formal sounding and almost robotic.

"XL?" Ben questioned quietly and in shock.

He stood up slowly and turned his head slightly in his direction, "Not XL Terrestrial, he is sleeping."

Kevin looked down at his girlfriend, "Gwen?"

"I'm on it," she raised her hand and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes and informed everyone, "He's not kidding, XL is asleep deep in his subconscious."

"Angelos," Reinrassig called to him, getting his attention, "there has been a change of plans. Your orders are to remove yourself from his body and return to me."

"I wish I could, Supreme One, I have inhabited his body too long, I cannot separate from him," he notified him, his tone was of someone who was begging for forgiveness.

"What do you mean you can't separate from him?" Robin asked, clearly concerned and suspicious.

"When I entered his body, my physical form turned into bodily fluids and spread throughout his body," he explained. "It would be difficult for my body to gather together and reshape into my normal form. It would also be deadly. There are countless ways it could kill him. None would be pleasant to see."

"So... so it's too late?" Gwen asked sadly.

"Is there no way to save him?" Starfire asked, her tone of voice the same as hers.

"No," a new voice spoke, "there is a way."

They all looked in the direction of the new voice and saw a middle-aged man wearing a lab coat and goggles around his neck standing in the room. The Titans looked at him in shock because none of the alarms went off and he just suddenly appeared out of thin air.

"How did you get in?!" Robin demanded, reaching for his utility belt, but was surprised to find nothing there. "Where's-"

He held up the missing item in question, "I took it from you before I arrived."

"Guys, this is Professor Paradox," Ben introduced him to them. "He's a time-traveler who helps us out sometimes."

"But only in the most serious cases," Gwen added.

"Have you explained to them what was discovered yet?" he asked Angelos.

"I have not," he replied flatly. He looked up at his commander, "Should I?"

"Yes, you should," he answered.

He nodded and explained what was discovered, "An investigation into reported attacks done by the Locrix uncovered reports of theft in the same quadrants of the galaxy. The items stolen were parts needed to construct a weapon that will ensure the destruction of all known life in the universe."

Paradox took over from there, "The weapon he speaks of is called a Chronoton Detonator, it-"

"Can stop time. Permanently," Robin finished, grimly and stoically.

"Correct. Should the weapon go off, it would disrupt the fabric of space time and rip a hole in the universe itself," he explained.

"We strongly believe it to the work of the Vernethians," Reinrassig chimed in.

"What makes you so sure that it's the Vernethians anyway?" Ben asked. "Maybe that's just your bias talking."

"It is against the honor of the entire Highbreed race to lie about such things," he proclaimed proudly.

"At most of the crime scenes, the cameras were obliterated. However, at the last theft, the thief got careless and left one camera working. The image is not clear, however, the perpetrator is undoubtedly Vernethian," Angelos informed.

"But why? Why would they want to stop time forever?" Cyborg asked.

Kevin agreed with what he was saying, "Chromedome has a point. Wouldn't they be frozen in time forever too?"

"Along with the stolen equipment for a Chronoton Detonator, there have been reports of stolen time-traveling and spaceship devices," Angelos started.

"If assembled correctly, those devices can be used to shield the Vernethian home planet of any sudden time-disruption," Paradox continued.

"And thus protecting the Vernethians from being affected by the Chronoton Detonator!" Reinrassig finished.

"From the sound of it, it seems to me that these Vernethians are quite arrogant and audacious," Slade finally spoke after being silent the entire time.

"What are you getting at, Slade?" Robin questioned harshly and clearly hostilely.

"All I'm saying is that they're taking a lot of risks and you should know from experience that a plan such as this never works out," he pointed out calmly.

As much as no one, especially Robin, would like to admit it, he was right once again. They all knew from past experiences that most complex and egotistical plans never work out in the aggressors' favor, though sometimes that wasn't always the case.

"Nevertheless, they need to be taken out if they really are bold enough to go through with their plan," Gwen stated.

"There has to be a way to stop them before they get the chance to activate it!" Robin asserted.

"There is-" Angelos began to say, but then he was cut off by a sudden coughing fit. It was so severe that blood began to spew out of his mouth and splatter on the floor; it mirrored a crime scene. He was beginning to stagger and looked to be on the bridge of collapse.

Slade stood up and allowed him to lean on him to help him stand. He patted his back gently in an attempt to help ease his coughs.

"X- XL Terrestrial is awakening!" he rasped.

"Quick, tell us how to stop it!" Ben implored.

Too late. Just as he was about to say something, he closed his eyes and his head fell limply against Slade's chest.

He groaned as he slowly opened his eyes and rubbed them. He looked up at Slade in confusion, then looked down and saw that he was standing.

"What happened? Did I have a blackout or something?" he asked sleepily.

"Or something," Beast Boy replied, his voice flat.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he inquired, rubbing an eye.

"You better sit down for this one," Slade told him as they went over to the sofa.

* * *

"Wait, wait, what?" he asked after it was all over. It was the expected reaction after taking in everything he was just told.

"Angelos took over your body in order to tell us why it was sent to Earth," Robin informed, choosing his words wisely.

His reaction after hearing this, however, was unexpected. Instead of freaking out or looking at them in confusion, he calmly asks, "What did he tell you?"

"He told us about mysterious thefts near reported Locrix attacks and that what was stolen will pretty much destroy all life," Cyborg explained.

"All life except for the Vernethians," Reinrassig spat.

"And, unfortunately, Angelos is the only one who knows how to stop it," Gwen added.

"He was about to tell us, then you woke up," Kevin finished.

"Oh, so I guess it's all my fault," he commented, scratching the back of his head.

"What woke you up anyway?" Raven asked.

"Nightmare, I think," he replied. "It was as if someone or something was trying to take over my mind and soul. It frightened me so severely that it caused me to awaken."

He looked down at his hands and saw that they looked normal again, but for how long? Who's to say that he won't become ill again? Who's to say that it won't take over his body again? Will he truly lose who he is forever?

As if he knew what he was thinking, Ben mentioned, "Because it's been, well, inside you for so long, it can't leave your body."

"Oh," his response was desolate, "so I guess it's hopeless."

Reinrassig was tempted to tell him, "No, it is not," though he was certain that it would be a lie if he did so and lying would strain his pride and the pride of his entire race. Though, at this rate, he may as well take the chance.

'There is a way,' he reminded himself mentally.

'The way' was incredibly high-risk and the chances of it succeeding were slim. Perhaps it was worth the gamble, after all if it works, it would keep his species' pride intact.

He debated on whether or not to speak up about 'the way.' There were many things that he had to consider, not just if it would work, but also the reaction of his people.

Meanwhile, while he was debating, Paradox also needed to speak to him. It was important, but then again everything he says seems to be important.

"Young Xilo," he spoke, getting his attention, "I would like to have a word with you."

He nodded and stood up, only to quickly fall back down. He looked up at him with a nervous and embarrassed smile.

He held his chin, "Hm, you might slow them down." He extended his hand down to him, "Here, grab my hand."

He grabbed it and stood again, this time he didn't fall back down onto the sofa. In fact, his legs didn't feel weak at all, they were strong; normal.

"My legs," he gaped down at them, "they feel-"

"Better?" Paradox finished with a grin. He nodded. "Good. No time to waste."

They walked towards the doorway and started talking. Nothing they were talking about could be heard, they were too far away and were speaking quietly. After just a few minutes, they rejoined the others.

"Try not to forget," he told him.

"I won't. I have a good memory," XL assured with a proud smile.

"Hey, if you're giving free advice, I want some!" Beast Boy chirped.

"Well, I could tell you not to play with the nuclear fusion grenade, but I know you won't listen," he deadpanned.

"Don't play with the what?" he asked nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"My point," he then addressed everyone else. "You're on your own from here." He disappeared in a flash of blue light.

By that time, Reinrassig had made his decision. "All of you," he spoke, getting the attention of everyone in the room, "come to Augstaka. We will discuss what must be done upon your arrival."

O~**V**~O-0-**X**-0-O~**V**~O

**(A/N: I got this done a lot faster than I expected. I really thought that it wouldn't be done for another week.**

**I'm working on the next chapters of "Fast Friends" and "Interstellar Roots" currently. I updated "No More Chains" just a few days ago. If you want, you guys can check them out.**

**Now, time to explain my other theory. Hopefully, you guys think it's just a little interesting.**

**Did anyone notice that the Locrix that appeared in the beginning of the episode "Troq" didn't attack anyone? If they really are a malevolent race with the sole intention of wiping out all organic life, then I'd expect them to start attacking the second they enter Earth's atmosphere, but they didn't. In fact, they didn't attack at all. The only time we see them attack is if they felt threatened, such as when they were battling Val-Yor or when their planet was suddenly invaded.**

**Sure, someone could say that they were too focused on Val-Yor to attack anyone on Earth, but I'm looking at this from the point of view of the Locrix. When you look at it from that point of view, you realize that there's something inconsistent here. Case in point, the planets that were (supposedly) attacked (we'll get back to this later), were millions of light-years from Earth at the very least. So why would they be in that part of the galaxy so far away from their home plant? I'm suggesting that they were trying to escape from Val-Yor in order to find help.**

**Not only that, but does anyone think that the "evidence photos" that are shown to the Titans are a little suspicious? The aliens that are attacked are the exact same ones that Starfire tries to take refuge with. Those races are shown to be quite primitive, even more so than humans, who better for a **_**staged **_**attack?**

**Who's really to say that they are truly malevolent? Val-Yor. It's his word against a race of beings that can't talk. The fact that they only seem to attack if someone or something attacks them, indicates that something is amiss here.**

**What do you guys think? Do you think I make a pretty compelling case or not really? I'd love to hear your thoughts about this.)**


	6. Chapter 6

**(A/N: Alright you guys this is the chapter where we **_**finally **_**get to that "Omniverse" element I mentioned in the first chapter. This is where things will finally get put into gear. Get excited!**

**It'll also make a few jabs at stereotypes and bias. Specifically, the typical bias and stereotypes often associated with villains. It definitely takes things in a different direction (at least in my opinion).**

**There may be a few political instances in this that some may consider insulting to their views. I apologize ahead of time if that's the case. I really don't insult people on purpose, even if it seems otherwise.)**

**O***~***O***~***O**-X-**O***~***O***~***O**

"How far is it to August anyway?" Beast Boy asked.

"Augstaka," Kevin corrected. "It's on the other side of the galaxy."

"How are we supposed to get there?" Cyborg asked. "Our ship is totalled."

"Easy, we'll take the Rust Bucket," Ben grinned.

"Yeah, that sounds safe," Raven uttered sarcastically.

Ben and his friends just exchanged smiles with each other. They were in for quite the surprise when they see their ship.

"Meet us on the roof in five minutes," Kevin told them, "then we'll take off."

"Make sure to bring a jacket, it's going to be cold," Ben added.

The three of them made their way up to the roof. Once up there, they got inside their ship and waited for everyone.

Meanwhile, inside the Tower, four of the five Titans were in the living room discussing. Everyone else was doing their own thing for the moment.

"Are you sure this trip is a good idea?" Raven was the first to ask.

"I must agree with Raven, I feel uncomfortable journeying to the Highbreed home planet," Starfire admitted.

"I'm not entirely sure if this is a good idea or not, but if we don't the entire Universe is at stake," Robin stated.

"I don't know, from the sound of it, sounds like Ben and his team deals with this stuff all the time." Cyborg then noticed something or someone was missing, "Hey, where's Beast Boy?"

"Now that you mention it, where are Slade and XL?" their stoic leader questioned.

"I'm over here," Slade's calm voice replied.

They all looked and saw that he was looking at the view of the city. His arms behind his back, much akin to a common military position.

"What are you doing?" he asked, almost surprised by the sight.

"Enjoying the view whilst I can," he answered calmly. "Who knows? It may be the last time."

"Last time for what?" Beast Boy asked as he and XL walked into the room.

"Uh, where'd you guys go?" Cyborg asked.

"I got jackets for everyone," he replied, gesturing to the pile of the said garment he was holding. "Ben said it would be cold."

"It will be, the Highbreed like it cold," XL mentioned.

"Where did you go?" Robin asked.

"I went back for these," he held up his music player and headphones, "and called my parole officer."

"Parole officer?" he inquired.

"I have to call everyday," he explained, "but I have a feeling this will take awhile, so I told him I won't be calling for a few days."

"You... actually call your... parole officer?" Raven inquired doubtfully. The other Titans had similar expressions on their faces.

He nodded, "What do you take me for? Irresponsible?"

"Uh, yeah?" Beast Boy looked at him stupidly.

He looked at them like they were idiots, "Seriously? Do you just assume that villains enjoy going to jail or something? I call every day so that I don't get thrown in jail!" It was quite obvious from his behavior that he considers their assumptions to be an insult.

Before this could go any further, Kevin's voice could be heard from Robin's communicator, _"Are you guys coming or what? If you don't get up here in the next two minutes we're taking off without you."_

"You heard him," Slade spoke. "Tick tock."

XL turned around with a huff and walked away in the direction of the roof. He put on his headphones and picked a song from his music player. He made sure to pick a loud one so that he wouldn't hear them if they tried to talk to him.

"I think we made him mad," Beast Boy muttered.

"You think?" Raven asked sarcastically.

Slade followed after him and turned to look back at the Titans, "Coming?"

They all exchanged looks with each other before following them. Hopefully, this mission wouldn't be as bumpy as the near-confrontation they just had.

They made it up to the roof and saw their green jet. The hatch was open and it closed when they walked inside. They walked into the cargo area where there were two sports cars, one from about thirty years ago, the other from that current year.

Cyborg wolf-whistled, "Sweet cars."

_"Don't_ _touch_ _my_ _ride,"_ Kevin's voice growled over the speaker.

Metal doors with the same symbol as the Ultimatrix and Plumbers' badges opened and showed Ben standing with a grin and crossed arms. "It's about time you guys showed up. C'mon, I'll take you guys up to the cockpit."

He led them through a seemingly endless tunnel with side tunnels that presumably led to exits. Along with the side tunnels were closed compartments that most likely contained equipment.

It ended at another door that was the same as the other. It opened and revealed the cockpit. It contained high-tech computers and a high-tech piloting system among other advanced technology. Kevin sat in the pilot seat and Gwen sat at one of the computers, they turned to see their awe-struck faces.

"Not bad for a piece of junk, huh?" he smirked.

"Well, what do you think?" Ben asked as he went to sit down in the co-pilot seat.

"What do I think?" Cyborg started. "This place is amazing!"

Robin admired the computers, "I bet you'd be able to get access into any database in the world with this."

Kevin and Ben turned around and they started to prepare for take off. It wouldn't be long before they would take flight.

"Might wanna find a seat, we'll be taking off in a second," Kevin told them as he flipped a few switches.

They looked around, but saw that there were no more seats left. XL had taken the last seat and was playing with his music player.

"Uh, dude, there are no more seats!" Beast Boy shrieked.

Ben pushed a button and six seats suddenly emerged from the floor. "You were saying?" he asked wittily. They sat down in a seat and buckled up.

"I hope everyone's buckled up," Kevin started, "'cause we're taking off."

The wheels retracted into the jet and they hovered over the Tower. It hovered up a little higher, then they were flying over Jump City.

"Oh, man! She flies like a dream!" Cyborg grinned like a child.

The Osmosian looked back at him with a proud smirk, "Built her myself."

"I thought you said this was a standard issue Plumber jet?" Ben asked pointedly, destroying his ego in the process.

"Whatever," he grumbled. "So, we're just going straight to Augstaka, right?"

"Um, actually, I was wondering if we could make a stop first," XL spoke.

He let out a long sign, "Fine. Where to?"

"Undertown-" he paused, "Bellwood."

Ben looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "That's our hometown. What could you want there?"

"You won't believe me if I tell you," he muttered, turning his seat around so that he was staring out the window.

"Try us," he smiled in an almost reassuring way.

He looked at him in a hopeful and friendly manner, "Underneath your town is an entire city of beings from across the Universe. There's an area where I usually go when I need supplies."

Everyone, not just Ben and his friends, looked at him in disbelief. He slammed his hands in frustration and put his head down.

"I knew it! You don't believe me!" his voice was slightly muffled.

He got up from the co-pilot seat and went over to him, placing a hand on his back. "Hey, hey, it's okay."

He looked up at him, "It would be great if someone would believe me for once," he turned his head and glared.

"I believe you," Kevin spoke.

He shot up and nearly fell out of his chair, "You do?"

"Yeah," he looked back at him with a grin, "I've heard of the place, but I've never been down there."

"I can show you, but not until we get there," he told him.

He turned around and set a course to Bellwood. Ben rejoined him and sat in the co-pilot seat.

"How long will it take to get there?" Robin asked.

"Depends," Kevin shrugged.

"On?" he questioned.

"On how fast we go," he replied.

"We might have to go a little faster here shortly since we'll be flying over several military bases," Gwen commented, mostly to herself.

Suddenly, XL perked up and stood over the computers to look out the window. "I was there!" he exclaimed. "I was there!" He clawed at the glass like a rabid animal in a cage.

The Titans stood up and looked out the windows. A glance down revealed a large military base in the middle of the desert.

"What is that place?" Beast Boy asked, mostly to himself.

"And why does he claim to have been there?" Starfire inquired.

Ben glanced out and his eyes widened, "That's Area 51." He turned his chair around to face everyone, "We've been there, it's a prison where aliens over the past fifty years have been illegally contained by the Air Force."

"Fifty years?!" Robin shouted in anger.

"I was there when I was eleven with a Necrofriggian," he proclaimed, clearly distraught.

"That's Big Chill's species, isn't it?" Gwen inquired.

"They tied me up in a way that I would accidentally strangle myself with any sudden movement," he claimed, trembling with fear.

Seeing him this way, Slade immediately gets up from his seat and goes over to him. He pulls him into an embrace and tries to comfort him.

The Titans were utterly surprised by his actions. After all, it's not every day that a hero gets the honor of witnessing a villain express their softer side. Perhaps this means that deep down not all villains are really bad.

"Do you know who tied you up or who captured you?" Robin asked.

He shook his head, "I don't know who tied me up, but the man who captured me was blond with piercing blue eyes."

"Do you think you'd be able to identify him?" Gwen asked.

He nodded, "I scratched him across the face. I'm certain that it left a scar. And speaking of scars," he pulled back the clothing covering his wrists, ankles, and neck. When he did, it revealed deep scars around the circumference of those body parts. His voice was strained as he spoke, "These are the memories I carry with me every day of my life."

Robin took out a small camera from his utility belt and asked, "Do you mind if I take a few pictures?"

He shrugged, "I don't care. Go for it."

He took pictures of the scarred areas and was shocked by how deep some of them were. Just thinking about or imagining a young kid being tied up like a lamb about to be culled was heartbreaking and stomach-wrenching. Little did he know, Slade had similar thoughts on his mind.

"How many aliens were down there when you were there?" Ben asked.

"A little over two thousand," he replied. "Why?"

"Two thousand? There were less than eight hundred when we went there!" he raised his voice in realization and growing dismay.

"That means over a thousand aliens are unaccounted for!" Robin surmised.

"They are likely dead," XL uttered sadly. "When I was there we were all crammed into cells. Usually five or six into one cell. I believe we were arranged that way so that they could watch us tear each other to shreds for just the smallest scrap of food."

"I saw the same thing when I went down into the cells as Big Chill," Ben claimed. "Oh, man... it was inhumane."

"Tell me about it," he muttered.

Eventually, the heat died down and everyone went back to their seats. Even XL was able to calm down relatively easily, he was scrolling through his songs, looking for something to listen to.

He was listening to "The Hell Song" by Sum 41 when someone shook his shoulder. It was Ben. He removed his headphones from his ears.

"We're getting close to Bellwood," he told him.

"Okay," he got up from his seat and took his. "Fly to the west side of town."

"Alright, whatever you say," Kevin replied.

He directed the Rust Bucket west just as he said to do so. He then directed him to an old stretch of highway that led into a tunnel.

He landed in front of the tunnel, "Now what?"

He stood up from the seat and started to walk away, "We walk."

They got out of the Rust Bucket and walked down into the tunnel. They didn't have to walk very far.

It wasn't long before they saw various buildings, shops, advertisements, and homes among other things. In the streets were aliens of various sizes, shapes, and colors.

"Dude!" Beast Boy and Ben gasped in unison.

"Look at this place," Cyborg's jaw dropped.

"Are you coming?" XL called out to them from below, Slade was at his side.

They quickly joined with them and he continued to lead them through the city. Although they were on a mission, it was hard to stay focused when there were so many things to admire.

In spite of all the sights, the food the vendors sold was nothing to get hungry over. Beast Boy shivered in disgust at the food, "Ugh! The food here looks worse than what Star makes us eat!"

"Oh, man. Same with us and my Grandpa Max," Ben groaned in agreement.

"Remember that time he made us hash browns and deep fried squid eyes for breakfast?" Kevin asked, voice full of laughter.

"Or those cockroach croquettes?" Gwen added.

"Stop, you're making me hungry," XL grumbled, rubbing his stomach.

Beast Boy laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "Oh, right, you haven't eaten since last night. Sorry, dude, I, uh-"

He interjected, "It's fine, I wasn't hungry last night or this morning anyway." As if on cue, there was a prolonged growl coming from his stomach, "But I am now."

He stopped at a stand and spoke to the vendor in a language none of them recognized. He took some strange currency out of his pocket and handed it to the vendor, who in turn gave him a strange fruit.

The fruit was the size of a tennis ball and had a foul odor that they could all smell even though they stood roughly two or three feet away from him. It was colored sulfur with black spots that were the size of a nickel.

He cracked it over his knee and opened it with ease. Inside was a bright yellow custard-like substance with a faint, sweet smelling aroma.

"What is that?" Cyborg asked, holding his nose.

"_Boladh Bréan_. Smells bad, but tastes good." To demonstrate, he poured a small portion of the custard in one of the halves into his mouth. He held out the other half to them.

No one dared to touch it, until Kevin shrugged and took it, "Why not?" He poured a little bit of it into his mouth and nodded while licking his lips, "Not bad."

Ben tried some of it, "Huh, you're right, tastes pretty good."

Gwen tried it too, "I guess we shouldn't have been so quick to judge Grandpa Max."

Starfire went over to XL and asked, "May I?" He held out his food to her.

In just a couple of minutes, everyone, save for Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, and Slade, had tried the fruit. Raven and Slade didn't want to try it, not because they thought it was disgusting or anything similar, but because they just didn't want to. Beast Boy and Cyborg didn't try it because they saw it as "weird" and instead were consuming an ice cream-like product. They didn't know what it was, but XL did and decided to have a little fun.

"You know you're eating babies, right?" he questioned pointedly.

They looked at him with shocked expressions, their faces were covered with the product they were eating. "What?" they asked in unison.

"You're eating Lewodan children," he replied flatly.

Kevin decided to play along, "The consumption of Lewodan children is illegal in fifteen systems. That's a felony that lands you a trip to the Null Void."

"The Null Void is full of the most dangerous criminals in the Universe. They will eat you alive," he smirked.

They gagged and tried to wipe away all evidence of the "babies" from their faces. Meanwhile, Kevin and XL were trying to steady themselves as they struggled to hold back their laughter.

Gwen crossed her arms and scolded them, "Enough's enough."

Kevin groaned in disappointment, "It was fun while it lasted." He whistled and got their attention, "Guys, we were just kidding."

Beast Boy blinked, "Huh? So, we're not eating alien kids?"

XL shook his head with an amused smile, "No, you're eating synthetic Lewodans. As in artificial." They sighed in unison.

"That's a relief!" Cyborg grinned from ear to ear and continued to stuff his face.

"Uh, want some?" Beast Boy offered, extending his hand out.

He looked at his hand and noticed that it was covered in the product. He backed away from him, "No thanks, I'm allergic to synthetic lifeforms. It will cause irritation if it gets on my skin." He shrugged and continued to eat it.

Once their snack was finished, they focused on the matter at hand and continued to walk through Undertown. It wasn't until they got to a particular area of the city that he stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong? Why are we stopping?" Gwen asked.

He said nothing and pointed in front of him. They looked in the direction he was pointing at and saw a highway of primarily black and blue flashes in the middle of the street.

"If we continue," he started, "we will be ripped apart until there is nothing left. It would be very bloody."

"What are those blurs?" Beast Boy asked.

"'Those blurs' are the residents," he answered. "The children enjoy playing in the streets."

"No problem," Ben smiled, dialing the Ultimatrix, "we'll just fly over them."

"I wouldn't recommend that," he told him.

"Why not?" he asked.

He pointed at the playing children again and they watched as a kid that looked striking similar to Fasttrack jumped up high into the air to kick a ball and went back to the ground with his friends. It happened within the time span of only a single second.

He saw the point he was trying to make, "Oh."

"So, now what? This is it? This is as far as we go?" Cyborg asked dramatically.

He sighed, but whether or not this was due to annoyance or frustration is unknown, "Quit being so dramatic. All we have to do is walk."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Raven asked. "You did say they're pretty dangerous."

"That's only if you walk too fast or start running," he replied. "If we walk slow enough, we won't be in any danger. After all, the only way to fight speed is to slow down."

He started to slowly walk towards where the children played. They held their breath and exhaled when he was able to walk through unharmed. They followed him as soon they saw it was safe.

He waited for them with his hands in his pockets with a bored yet amused expression on his face. He stood in front of a tunnel that appeared to lead into a deeper area of Undertown.

"Look out! She can't stop!" a young, unfamiliar voice shouted from behind them.

They turned and saw a blue and black blur skidding towards them. XL stepped forward and knelt down with wide arms. He caught the blur and stood up as soon as he did. They saw that the blur was a young girl that was the same species as Fasttrack and the boy they saw earlier. As soon as he caught her, two boys came up to them.

One of the boys was the same species as the little girl, the other was the same species as some of the other children and one that Ben and his friends immediately recognized. Both were in their pre-teenage to early-teenage years.

"A Fasttrack and an XLR8?" Ben questioned out loud.

"Citrakayah and Kineceleran," Kevin corrected.

The Citrakayah took the little girl from XL, "Sorry about that, she's still learning how to control her momentum."

"Thanks for catching her before anyone got hurt," the Kineceleran smiled appreciatively.

He gave a smile of his own, "No problem. Anything for a friend."

"Friend? Do we know you?" the Citrakayah asked.

"Yes, you do," he replied. "I believe you once called me 'a death-cheater.'" They looked at him with surprised expressions and almost fell to the ground in shock and realization.

"Xilo, sorry, we didn't recognize you," the Kineceleran apologized.

He shrugged, "It's fine. Do I really look that different?"

"Yeah, we almost never see you without your costume," he told him.

He glanced down at himself and the clothes he wore, a jacket and dark pants. 'I suppose I do look a little different in civilian clothes,' he mused.

"Or without-" he was about to add something, but he was cut off by XL suddenly covering his mouth.

"What's going on here?" Robin almost demanded.

He looked back at him with a playful and mischievous yet warning expression, "Nothing you should be concerned about."

"Anyways, thanks again," he grinned and playfully hit his shoulder.

He shrugged with a small smile, "No problem."

"Yeah, I would've been in big trouble if you hadn't stopped her," the Citrakayah joked slightly.

"We both would've," the Kineceleran added flippantly.

They sped off to rejoin their friends and looked back to wave. He waved back at them and they disappeared in an instant. He looked back at everyone else, they looked at him as if he had just grown some form of disfigurement.

"What?" he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"You saved a little girl," Robin started.

"And you have a lot of friends down here," Cyborg added.

"So?" he narrowed his eyes. "I might be a villain up there," he pointed up, then pointed at the ground, "but down here I'm whatever I want to be. I have friends that aren't complete idiots and I can be myself without a care."

Before this could go any further, Slade places a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down." He looked up at him angrily with gritted teeth, but calmed down.

"We continue forward from here," he told them. He pointed to the tunnel, "Down there."

They went over to it and walked into the lower levels of the city. The scenic change was quite drastic. It goes from liveliness and prosperity to dread and shadiness.

"Are you certain we are in the correct place?" Starfire asked timidly.

He nodded, "Yes, we are. We should be fine since we have Plumbers with us."

"You don't have just Plumbers, you have the great Ben Tennyson!" Ben declared proudly while in a 'hero pose.'

"Ben," Gwen growled warningly.

"Wait, what do you mean 'should be fine'? Are we in any danger?" Beast Boy asked, panicking a little.

"No," he assured, then paused with uncertainty and shrugged, "Well... maybe."

"That's reassuring," Raven uttered sarcastically.

"What the hell do you want from me?!" he snapped. "I have no idea what kind of trouble we could get into. And what are you so worried about anyway?! You have powers! My abilities are useful near water! Not here!"

Slade gave his shoulder a squeeze, he inhaled sharply. "That's enough," he calmly disciplined him, almost in a fatherly manner.

His expression lightened up and he looked back at them, "Sorry. Let's go."

As they walked through the shady area with uneasiness, there was this constant need to look over the shoulder to see if anyone was following them. Most of the people down there looked more than powerful enough both physically and socially to make any of them disappear forever.

"I do not like this place!" Starfire shrieked.

"How much longer until we get to... wherever we're going?" Beast Boy asked.

"We're not quite there yet," was the only reply he gave.

The walk was seemingly prolonged, especially with all the mysterious figures staring at them from around every corner, but they eventually came to a stop. They stopped at a hollowed out space in the concrete wall with a small gate to separate the inside and outside. It looked to be some kind of underground elevator.

They were about to question what it was, but stopped themselves when XL calmly opened the gate and stepped inside. They followed him and he closed the gate behind them once the last person stepped on.

"Uh, where are the controls?" Cyborg asked.

He was right, there were no buttons, no lever, no nothing to make it go up or down. They looked around for the controls, but found nothing.

Then, the elevator floor shook, they looked and saw XL jumping, trying to reach the ceiling. "Dammit," he grumbled, "they changed the controls again."

They looked up and saw a black, linoleum-like slate above them. He jumped up again and his finger skimmed the surface of the slate. When it did, a light blue vibration appeared for a brief time and disappeared.

"Can somebody help me reach it?" he asked.

"Dude, why don't you just use your powers?" Beast Boy asked.

"Are you mocking me?" he snapped. "I don't have powers! And even if I did, I'm not willing to use them while I'm sharing my body!"

Strong arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind and lifted him up before he could say anymore. He looked down and saw it was Slade, he idly noticed that he was glaring at them. He looked angry, but with his mask it was hard to tell, plus he was always good at sustaining his anger, much better than him.

He started working on the control panel, it was like watching some kind of magic show. There were some points that resembled a phenomena known as "ball lightning." He finished off by dragging a finger across the panel, the river of light that went along with it was a breathtaking finale.

Slade put him back on the floor as the elevator suddenly went down at an alarming speed. It stopped abruptly and XL and Slade were the first to walk out, everyone else appeared to practically be frozen in time. They eventually shook it off and walked out.

"Where are we?" Robin asked.

"About ten miles beneath the Earth's surface," XL answered.

"What?! How are we still alive?!" Cyborg screeched, causing XL to flinch in pain.

"Scream a little louder, why don't you?" he sarcastically grumbled, cleaning out his ears due to the pain.

Ben then noticed something dark in the palm of his hand. "What's in your hand?" he asked.

He looked at, "Oh, fur. Must have stuck to me when I picked her up." He rolled it up and flaked it off.

"How did it stick to you after all that time?" he asked again.

"Probably due to the protective mucus," he uttered.

"Mucus?" Robin repeated, slightly intrigued.

"My species secretes a protective layer of mucus to make us inedible to potential predators," he explained. "It's also a pretty good moisturizer. One of the reasons why my people were specifically attacked and forced into slavery. Don't worry, it usually only sticks to me and it can only come off with a dry rag."

"So, where's this place we're going to?" Kevin asked.

He led them to a rather large stand where a strange plump, blue alien with small wings and a nose similar to that of an elephant. There were numerous items for sale that were as strange as the alien, some were weapons, others were living creatures, the rest was simply bizarre.

He walked up to it and greeted the owner in a weird language, similar to the one from earlier, "_H'chu apenkee_."

The owner grinned, "Ah! Young Xilo, good customer!"

He got right to the point, "I need another suit."

"_Wanta_?" he asked, very confused.

"I, uh, lost it about two weeks ago," he explained.

"Sorry, I ran out years ago. You can't find that anymore," he said.

He was understandably disappointed, but there was something else he could ask for. "Give me two vials of serum."

He fluttered his wings and came over the counter with a chair and serology equipment. "_Hunto _milliliters _see bonsa_."

He sighed and sat down in the chair, rolling up his sleeve, "_Luto. Woy fa momeu_."

He looked away as he stuck a needle into his arm and flinched when he felt a sharp pinch. A blue fluid rushed into a tube and was removed when it was full. He placed it on the counter and grabbed another one.

XL saw this and pushed him away, he tore out the needle. He stood up and held his arm as blood gushed out, he weakly spat while gasping, "You said ten, not twenty!"

He shrugged and went back behind the counter, taking out a petri dish and a dark colored vial, "_Jee banag bai neu haku Meecooda yoieu koumhaptecee cay_."

"Whatever. Just give me the serum," he told him, nearly growling.

"Here," he gave him two vials filled with a sulfur colored liquid. "_Cuova woy yanee cay uba_."

"_E chu ta_," he spat before he walked away with the vials. "Let's get going," he told everyone.

"Best idea I've heard all day," Kevin uttered.

They were about to walk away, when the owner shouted, "_Chuba! Yoieu bata wata_!"

"_Choy_? _Da chuda_?" he asked, turning around.

"Is this a joke?" he snapped. "_Fa baa tee ciy. Doth uba dopo bai dwana mi va foppa_?!"

"Not pure? What are you talking about?" he inquired, walking up to the stand.

He showed him the petri dish, "It's still blue, not red! It should be red!"

He took it from him and examined it, he gasped in realization, 'Of course, Angelos! It must have damaged my DNA!' He quickly asked him, "_Hi chuba da naga doi mi_?"

"_Jee banag mah bahie bata_!" He took the vials from him and threw the tube of tainted blood at him, which he easily caught and put in his pocket.

He went back to everyone, "I'm sorry, I didn't know this would happen!"

"Hey, it's cool," Kevin placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let me talk to him." He went over to do just that.

'Oh, no,' XL thought. 'We will need a miracle.'

"Hey, listen, he's with us. You know? The Plumbers. Not to mention he has two teams of superheroes to back him up and a guy who's probably the most dangerous man in the world. So, what do you say? Can we cut a deal here?" he asked in a polite and negotiable manner.

'Here we go,' he thought. He tapped on Ben's shoulder, getting his attention, "Be ready for anything."

"What?" he questioned. "What are you-"

He got his answer when the owner gave Kevin his answer, "_Nobata_!"

He took out a small, wooden flute-like whistle and blew into it. Two large aliens came out from behind the stand. One was a Tetramand, except his skin was blue, not the usual red. The other was a muscular green alien with gills and fins on the sides of his face.

"_Killee hoohah_!" he commanded.

The Tetramand cracked all four of his knuckles, "With pleasure, boss."

Kevin backed up nervously with his hands up, "Hey, hey, take it easy." He was lifted up off the ground by the lower left arm, the other three arms were aimed down at him.

"Kevin!" Ben shouted and hit the Ultimatrix.

The green light enveloped him and when it cleared away he was transformed into a dark purplish-blue crystalline humanoid. He had a magenta face, hands, crystal shards on his back and chest, and one lone shard on top of his head, almost like some kind of horn.

"Chromastone!" he shouted. He raised his hand and shot a rainbow beam at the Tetramand, causing him to drop Kevin.

Beast Boy was awestruck, "Dude! This guy is amazing!"

Starfire couldn't help but to agree, but for a different reason, "Indeed, the colors were most beautiful."

The owner's eyes lit up when he saw Chromastone, the other alien was about to strike him, but he stopped him, "Stand down, _koochoo_."

He took out a metal box from underneath the counter and fluttered over the counter. He opened the box, revealing a glowing sphere shaped object the size of a tennis ball.

"What are you-?" Chromastone tried to ask, but was cut off by his own screams when it was suddenly thrust into his body.

The shards on his body turned red and grew longer as an aura of the ray he shot danced on them. When all of it eventually stopped, he started breathing in and out heavily and nearly fell over.

"_Puna puna hoohah mo_!" he ordered. They did as they were told and broke off the elongated crystals.

"Hey!" he protested, backing away when they tried to remove the shard on top of his head.

"Crystal or no vials!" he said.

XL pulled on his arm, making him face him, "Just do it."

He was hesitant, "But-"

He interjected, "They grow back."

"Fine," he caved in and broke off the last shard. He turned back into Ben, "Here. Don't make me regret this."

He eagerly took it, "_Cuova woy yanee cay uba_."

Before he could go anywhere, XL tapped on his shoulder and held out his hand expectantly, "The serum."

He gave him the vials, "_Wata uba doth_." He went back over the counter and said in a surly manner, "_Cuova woy yanee cay tytung uba_."

"_E chu ta, kung_," he hissed. He told everyone as he started to walk away, "Come on, let's get out of here."

**O***~***O***~***O**-X-**O***~***O***~***O**

**(A/N: So, what do you think? I know it may not be my best work, but a lot better than some of my earlier stuff.**

**The stand owner is based on Watto from "Star Wars" and the language he and XL are speaking is Huttese. It's a lot of stuff, so I'm not going to translate it, but it should be pretty easy to figure out, even without a translator.**

**I recently got started on two one-shot stories for "Ben 10." One is the sequel to "Ghostly Vengeance", the other isn't. That's all I'm really gonna tell you. You'll have to be patient to find out more.)**


	7. Chapter 7

**(A/N: This is where they'll finally get started on the journey through space to Augstaka. All I'm going to say is that it's going to take a little longer than expected for them to get there.**

**This chapter will really be more like an insight into XL and a little bit about his past and his relationship with Slade. It will be more or less emotional based and full of angst more than anything else. **

**There might be some parts that don't make sense, but they will later. Trust me.)**

**V***~***V***~***V**-o-o-o-**V***~***V***~***V**

With the vials now in hand, they left the underground area and went back up into Undertown. Once back there, they made their way up to the surface where the Rust Bucket was waiting for them.

The hatch opened and they went inside of the cargo area before going up to the cockpit. Kevin and Ben sat in the piloting seats, while everyone else sat in the seats they sat in before leaving.

Everyone buckled in while they prepared for ascension. The Rust Bucket hovered above the ground for a while, then lifted and soared through the air and began to rise further up into the planet's atmosphere.

"If anyone would like to make a last second request," Kevin started, looking back at them, "now would be the time, we're about to leave Earth's atmosphere." No one said anything. "Okay, I hope everyone's buckled in."

"We have a long trip ahead of us," Ben told them, "may as well get comfortable."

"How long will it take to get there?" Robin asked.

"Well, considering we just left, about a day, day and a half," Kevin answered and pressed a button. "Okay, you can unbuckle and walk around or whatever."

They did just that and went to look out the windows to watch the stellar objects go by or to have conversations with one another. Slade and XL were the only ones that did not move from their seats. Slade took on the role as an observer, while XL was using one of the computers to look at something. Beast Boy saw what he was doing and went over out of curiosity.

"Hey, dude, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing," he replied flatly without looking up at him.

"So... uh, what's the deal with those vials you bought?" he asked again.

"The vials contain a serum that's the source of my Size Alteration powers," he explained. "Unfortunately, it won't work without my suit."

"So, why buy them if they're pretty much useless?" he inquired.

He stopped typing on the computer and looked at him, his expression angry, "I need them. That's all you need to know."

He backed away nervously with his hands held up defensively, "Okay, Okay!"

He shook his head and went back to the computer. He eventually stopped whatever he was doing on there and took out his music player and headphones. It's unclear if he stopped what he was doing on the computer out of boredom or because he found what he was looking for.

He put on his headphones and started to look through his long list of songs. He eventually settled on the song "My Happy Ending" by Avril Lavigne.

A lot of the songs on it were already there when he found it, but his friends like to mess around with it and add songs they would listen to. This song in particular is one that was selected by his former classmate Angel. At least it did not sound like an addict choking on autotune like some of the other songs he had.

He started mouthing along to the lyrics, not really confident enough to sing out loud. He didn't really want to be judged if anyone didn't think he was good. He mouthed in sync to the lyrics that he felt had a certain meaning.

_Let's talk this over_

_It's not like we're dead_

_Was it something I did?_

_Was it something you said?_

_Don't leave me hanging_

_In a city so dead_

_Held up so high on such a unbreakable thread (unbreakable thread)_

_You were everything, everything that I wanted (that I wanted)_

_We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it (we lost it)_

_And all of the memories so close to me, just fade away_

_All this time you were pretending_

_So much for my happy ending…_

_...All the things you hide from me_

_All the shit that you do (all the shit that you do)_

_You were all the things I thought I knew_

_And I thought we could be…_

_...It's nice to know that you there_

_Thanks for acting like you cared_

_And making me feel like I was the only one_

_It's nice to know we had it all_

_Thanks for watching as I fall_

_And letting me know we were done_

_You were everything, everything that I wanted (that I wanted)_

_We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it (we lost it)_

_And all of the memories so close to me, just fade away_

_All this time you were pretending_

_So much for my happy ending…_

When he was done, he started looking for another song, he then noticed everyone was staring at him. They all looked surprised.

"Oh, shit, did I do all that out loud?" he asked no one in particular, he was most likely talking to himself if anything. He crossed his arms on the computers and buried his face in embarrassment.

"Yeah, we heard, but it's nothing to be ashamed of," Gwen assured. His antenna twitched slightly, as if to indicate that he was listening.

"What kind of songs do you like to listen to?" Ben asked.

He lifted his head up and rubbed his eyes as if he had been asleep, "I listen to a lot of songs. A lot of them are songs my friends added to my playlist just to irritate me."

He got up and turned to Kevin, "Think you can manage without me?"

"I've been flying longer than you've been driving," he replied with a smirk.

He went over to him and leaned up next to him, "What's your favorite song?"

"I like a lot of songs," he responded, scrolling through his playlist and unplugging his headphones, "but the one I listen to the most is this one." The song "Skylines And Turnstiles" by My Chemical Romance started to play.

Slade was sitting nearby and was listening as well. The first half of the song didn't have any real significance to him, however, the second half almost made his chest hurt.

_"And in this moment_

_We can't close the lids on burning eyes_

_Our memories blanket us_

_With friends we know like fallout vapors_

_Steel corpses stretch out towards an ending sun,_

_Scorched and black_

_It reaches in and tears your flesh apart_

_As ice cold hands rip into your heart_

_That's if you've still got one that's left_

_Inside that cave you call a chest_

_And after seeing what we saw_

_Can we still reclaim our innocence?_

_And if the world needs something better_

_Let's give them one more reason, now_

_This broken city sky_

_Like butane on my skin_

_Stolen from my eyes_

_Hello angel, tell me, where are you?_

_Tell me where we go from here_

_This broken city sky_

_Like butane on my skin_

_Stolen from my eyes_

_Hello angel, tell me, where are you?_

_Tell me where we go from here_

_Tell me, we go from here"_

When the song was finished, Slade placed a hand on his chest as if he was about to have a heart attack. His heart was beating rapidly, but he wasn't sure if it was due to anger, sadness, or something else entirely.

"Why do you listen to that song the most?" Robin asked.

It took a few moments before he responded, taking in a deep breath, "This song is an allegory for the 9/11 attacks and how much it both hurt people and made them stronger. It's a very motivational song and I feel like listening to it just once a day is enough to get myself through tough times."

This was something a lot of them could sympathize with and they agreed with what he was saying about it. Life is full of highs and lows, sometimes it can feel like you're stuck between a rock and a hard place and other times it feels like you're on top of everything.

"What else do you like?" Ben asked.

"I prefer artists from the 1970s to the late-2000s," he replied.

"That's quite a time gap," he commented. He just shrugged and looked through his songs again. "Do you ever listen to Shag Carpeting?" he asked suddenly.

He nodded, "Occasionally. They are not a band I would listen to daily, but I do. Why?"

"My grandpa Max listens to them all the time and used to go on and on about them," he laughed at the memories. "He even got our grandma Verdona hooked on them."

He then perked up all of a sudden, "Verdona? Is she an Anodite?"

"Yeah, she is," he confirmed. "Why?"

"My parents taught me about various beings who coexisted with humans and even had children with them, dating back tens of thousands of years," he explained. "There were quite Anodites and I remember them briefly going over someone named Verdona, who was once married to the Plumber Max Tennyson."

"Why would your parents teach you stuff like that?" Raven asked, Gwen's magic book was in her hands.

He took in another deep breath, "I was born premature and my parents felt that I needed to spend more time being educated rather than being like my siblings who were trained soldiers."

"I take it that means you don't have much combat experience?" Kevin asked with a smirk.

"I do. My elder siblings taught me, but it was always either in the presence of at least one parent or my eldest brother," he explained.

"What else did they teach you?" Ben questioned.

"I know over six million languages from across the Universe," he answered.

"Six million languages?!" nearly everyone exclaimed.

"Dude! That's insane!" Beast Boy exclaimed excitedly.

He smiled at their reactions, "Well, there's a benefit to having parents who were really into various cultures on a universal scale. I do wish they let me train more with my siblings."

"They're just protective. Parents are protective of their children," Slade uttered, surprising everyone else, except for XL, especially the Titans at that comment.

'You would know,' he thought.

He was about to plug his headphones back into his music player when they slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor. He bent down to pick them up and something fell out of his pocket when he did.

Ben saw this and picked it up. He looked at it and was very intrigued by what was in his hand. The item was made of a metal that aged to give it a light brown coloration. It appeared to be two rolled up bundles of rope with what looked like a pine leaf on top.

"Hey," he spoke, getting his attention as he plugged his headphones back in, "what's this?"

He took it from him, holding it with two fingers, "I'm not sure. I think it has some kind of nautical significance, but I'm not sure what it is."

Robin came over and looked at it, "Where'd you find this?"

"I found it in Nova Scotia, Canada. I found it outside of a port-side town, there was an archeological dig site not too far away," he explained.

"Archeological dig site?" he repeated.

"I didn't steal it if that's what you're thinking," he told him jokingly. "I was over a mile away from that site when I found it, there's no chance they would have found it."

He put it back inside of his pocket and Robin and Ben just couldn't help but to notice how distraught he looked all of a sudden. He almost looked as if he was worried about something, but they weren't sure why.

"What's wrong?" Ben asked. "You look a little worried about something."

"I just don't like to show people the things I have," he replied lowly.

"Why's that?" Robin inquired.

"Every time I show something I find to someone it vanishes," he answered, now beginning to grow frustrated.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked again.

"One day I found an old watch and when I showed it to a friend it was gone the next day. I find a rock with rare minerals embedded into it and it disappears just a week later. Do I need to say more?" he questioned. They didn't say anything more.

He took this as a sign that they were done talking to him, as was he. He put on his headphones and started to look through his list of songs. Seeing that he was done talking, Ben went back to the co-pilot seat and Robin went back to his friends.

* * *

They were now roughly six hours into their long trip, though it may as well be much longer in the vacuum of space where time is undeterminable. Everything had been smooth sailing for the most part, but they still had a long time before they got to their final destination.

Cyborg was slumped in his seat when his stomach suddenly growled. "Ah, man! I wish I'd eaten more of those artificial alien kid things!"

Beast Boy groaned in agreement, rubbing his stomach, "Ugh! Me too! Isn't there anything to eat in here?!"

Kevin tossed them two blue cakes that almost looked like pies. "You can have those."

"What are these?" the cybernetic Titan asked.

"Fleen cakes," he answered. "Best snacks in the galaxy."

They opened the packages they were in and each took a bite out of them. They were sweet like birthday cake; there was no other way to describe them.

"Pretty good," he commented.

"Yeah," his green friend agreed.

He was about to take another bite out of it, then noticed XL was sneaking glances at it. His eyes were glazed over and he looked hungry.

He tore a piece off and offered it to him, "Want a piece?"

He took it from him gratefully and put the sweet snack in his mouth. The piece was a little too big for his mouth, so he had to force it further into the back of his maw, to the point where it was practically touching his gag reflex. He swallowed it without chewing.

"Didn't have to wolf it down," he pointed out jokingly.

He was about to retort, but his stomach suddenly heated up and grumbled. He knew what that meant, he covered his mouth just as he tasted a familiar vile tang.

Kevin saw this in the corner of his eye and all but demanded to Ben, "Get him to the bathroom! I don't want him puking on my floor!"

He got up from his seat and helped him stand up, "C'mon, let's go before there's a mess."

They left the cockpit in a hurry, worrying everyone, Beast Boy and Slade especially. Beast Boy was worried because he had developed a small friendship with him in the past couple of weeks, it hurt him to see any of his friends in pain. While Slade was worried about him for his own reasons.

Ben returned to the cockpit without him a few minutes later and sat back down in his seat. His hands and the sleeves of his jacket were wet.

"Where is he?" Beast Boy asked.

"Cleaning up in the bathroom," he responded.

"He better not have gotten puke anywhere besides inside the toilet," Kevin deadpanned.

"He almost didn't make it, but he did somehow," he replied. After a couple of seconds, he uttered, "Guys, I'm worried."

"Why? What happened?" Gwen asked.

"When I helped him over there and when I helped him stand, I could feel his spine and ribcage," he explained. "I could feel every rib. He's practically a skeleton."

When he heard this, Slade looked away from them, it was difficult to tell why due to his mask. However, his reaction did not go unnoticed.

"Slade," Gwen spoke softly, "what's wrong? You look upset about something."

"I am," he replied stoically.

"Why? Did something happen?" Ben asked.

"This may be hard for you to believe but I'm genuinely worried about him," he claimed.

After a few more minutes, Ben started to grow concerned when he didn't come back, "It's been a long time. What's taking him so long?"

"Maybe he got lost," Kevin uttered with a small smirk.

He scowled and got up to go check on him to see if he's alright. Slade watched as he left the cockpit and got up himself, he had a pretty good idea of where he could be.

While Ben went to check the bathroom, he walked down the passageway that led to the cargo hold. He pressed a button and the door opened, his suspension was proven to be correct.

He was there, sitting on a metal crate, looking through his music player. He sat with one leg up on the crate and his arm resting on his knee. His headphones were over his ears and he didn't seem to notice him or even the door open.

He leaned his back up against a wall and he suddenly spoke, "How did you know I was here?" He didn't look at him and his tone was monotonous and completely free of emotion.

He shrugged, "Call it intuition."

"Criminal's intuition?" he inquired, his tone the same.

"Possibly," he replied, his calm voice growing amused.

He looked up at him with a raised eyelid and closed mouth smirk, he looked amused. He pulled his headphones off his ears and let them rest around his neck, he put his music player away in his pocket.

"Tell me honestly, why did you suddenly decide to help them?" he asked calmly with an amused smile plastered on his face.

"Why should that be of your concern?" he questioned.

His eyes moved in a fashion that was most likely him rolling his eyes, "Please, I know you better than any of them, this is not who you are or how you operate."

'Is that a fact?' he mentally questioned. "Now, I think you now owe me a question."

He raised his fingers lazily, "Shoot."

"Did you intentionally make yourself sick?" he asked.

He suddenly got angry and snapped, "No! We- I would never make our- myself ill!"

He narrowed his steely gray eye as he looked at him. It was hard to miss him using plural pronouns instead of singular pronouns and caused him to wonder what was going on in his head that would make him do that. He knows him better than possibly anyone else on Earth and that was not something he had ever done before.

He had a feeling that this unusual behavior has something to do with Angelos. Somehow, it must be messing with his mind, at least that's what he said to himself.

"You think you know everything, but the truth is: you know nothing," he told him, almost in a mocking and taunting demeanor. "You only kept me around because you needed someone to fill in the hole missing in your life that lives in that void you call a chest."

"Tell me what the hell is going on here?!" he demanded. "What are you doing to my son?!"

He smirked, "Son, huh? I always thought I was nothing more than a rat you comforted until I fell asleep. You pitied me because I have no family and yours hates you. Then, when you no longer wanted me, you left me to rot in the streets at the mercy of a race that would love to watch me die in a pit!"

Although they were some distance apart, he could see a certain amount of sadness behind a fiery anger and overpowering pain. His eyes were glossed, he was about to cry, if he wasn't already crying on the inside; because he was.

He took several steps towards him, "You're wrong, you are my son and I didn't care for you because I thought you were a rat, I did it because-"

He was cut off by Robin suddenly opening the door, "What's going on? We heard screaming and-" he paused when he saw Slade and XL in the cargo hold together, "What are you too doing in here?"

"Just chatting," XL answered casually. "Isn't that right?"

He was silent for a little while before he finally said something, "Yes... just chatting."

He jumped down from the crate he sat on and left. As he walked by, he could see a small, barely noticeable tear streaming down his face.

* * *

After an undetermined amount of time going through space, almost everyone was asleep in their seats, including Kevin, who put it on autopilot. The only ones who weren't asleep were Robin, Slade, and XL.

Robin was still suspicious of what they were doing earlier, but all he could do was speculate because neither one of them was talking. Although he wanted to know, if he knew, he would never be able to look at villains the same way again.

XL struggled to stay awake and every time he was able to fall asleep, he would suddenly perk up and look around frantically as if he was hearing voices. To stay awake, he would turn up the volume on his songs and continuously play the same song until he got bored with it and picked another one to continue the same process.

Slade could only watch as his 'son' tortured himself by not sleeping. He could tell that there was something wrong - very wrong - with him, but he wasn't talking and he doubted that he would talk to him anytime soon.

Like Robin, all he could do was speculate what was wrong with his 'son'. He suspected that his behavioral change had something to do with Angelos, he never had any problems with him before it took residence.

Then again, he had to consider the fact that he was no longer a child, or even an adolescent, he was an adult. He knew that he hadn't been an adult for very long and his behavior could have something to do with that. Although he highly doubted it, life is full of surprises.

It wasn't long before Robin finally fell asleep, slumped in his seat and resting his head on his arm. Now, it was just the two of them, 'father' and 'son'.

He watched as he rested his head in his palm and jumped awake just as he was about to allow himself to drift asleep. He looked scared to death.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

He blinked and rubbed his eyes, "Nothing. Nothing's wrong with me."

"Why torture yourself?" he questioned.

"I'm not," he denied. "Someone has to stay awake and stand guard."

"You're exhausted," he spoke calmly. "You need to rest."

He scoffed tiredly, "Don't start now, I don't want to wake up the whole solar system."

"Listen to me, s-" he paused, "Xilo, I'm just a little concerned about your well being. If there's something wrong with you, you can tell me."

He looked at him sadly and asked quietly, "Promise not to tell anyone?"

"Promise," he responded.

He sighed, "I'm putting myself through this because Angelos periodically tries to take control. Whenever I let my guard down, it makes its move to take over. I can't relax or sleep, it will take control."

"How do you know this?" he asked.

"I'm not insane," he asserted sternly. "I'm not insane."

"I never said you were," he reassured defensively. "Just tell me how you know."

"It talks to me," he replied quietly and shaken up. "Ever since that day it decided to merge with me, it talks to me. Sometimes I agree with it and sometimes I disagree. It's when I disagree that makes it hard to get through the day."

His eye widened in realization, "It makes you sick, doesn't it?"

He noticed, "Yes, it does. It's not always on purpose, but it's always when there's a disagreement. Sometimes it's bodily, other times it has to do with what should be done. We do seem to agree more than disagree lately."

"How often does this happen?" he asked.

"Several times a day," he answered.

"You fall ill several times a day?!" he all but yelled, but not loud enough to wake up everyone.

He nodded and shrugged slightly, "It's not a big deal."

"It _is_ a big deal!" he asserted. "Do you know how much harm it can do to you?!"

Beast Boy yawned and rubbed his eyes, "What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing," XL replied. "Just go back to sleep."

"Don't have to tell me twice," he joked. He morphed into a cat and curled up into a ball.

Slade looked over at his 'son', who turned away from him. He hung his head and closed his eye in shame and sadness.

**V***~***V***~***V**-o-o-o-**V***~***V***~***V**

**(A/N: I'm sorry this took so long, but I had to rewrite my original plan for this chapter because of my writer's block. I normally go with the flow when writing my stories and this chapter just took a more emotional turn somewhere in the middle so I had to change the plan.**

**I updated "Unknown Life" a few days ago, so you can check it out if you haven't read it yet. I do have some big plans for that story and my OC in the future.**

**This will likely be the last update to any story for a while and the reason for that is because Toy2711 and I will be writing a "Ben 10" one-shot together and we'll be getting started on it soon. While you wait, you can check out my other stories or check out Toy2711's profile, he's pretty cool.)**


	8. Chapter 8

**(A/N: Warning: themes of trafficking (slavery), racial sensitive terms, and kidnapping are going to be part of this chapter, but it's very doubtful it's going to be a beginning to end thing (if that makes sense). Nevertheless, these are very touchy subjects, so please read cautiously. That's all I have to say for now.)**

X*-*X*-*X**~o~o~o~**X*-*X*-*X

Within the next several hours, everyone was awake and they continued on course to Augstaka. Everyone was chatting and laughing amongst each other, making the cockpit even louder than it was the other day.

It was loud enough to keep XL awake, good thing too, he was about ready to pass out, which wouldn't be a good thing. It was pretty obvious that he hadn't slept, he had dark rings around his eyes that made it look like the skin in that area was doing its own impersonation of blueberries.

He let out a prolonged yawn and Cyborg remarked, "Long night, huh?"

"Shut your ass," he growled in a low, whispery voice.

"Whoa, watch your language," Kevin joked.

"Mind your own shit," he hissed.

"Hey! Maybe you should go back to sleep," Ben suggested gently.

"Maybe you should leave me alone!" he snapped, slamming his fists on the computers, causing some sparks to fly. He stood up and stormed out of the cockpit.

"What's his problem?" Beast Boy inquired to no one in particular.

"Yeah, if I didn't know any better I would think that he got up on the wrong side of the bed," his cybernetic best friend commented.

"Just leave him be," Gwen spoke. "He's probably under a lot of stress. Just give him a little time to cool off."

"You do have a point," Raven agreed. "I felt his emotions during that little episode, he's very stressed out."

"I could feel his heart rate, it's increased substantially compared to earlier," she mentioned.

"Do you think that's something we need to keep an eye on?" Robin asked.

"I doubt it, but anything's possible," she answered.

It had been a few minutes since XL had stormed off in anger and Slade was getting a little worried. He was just about to get and go look for him, but then he came back into the cockpit.

"Hey, feeling any better?" Ben asked.

He flipped him off and hissed, "Shut up."

"That's a no," he uttered.

He sat down with a sigh and rested his elbow on the computers while his hand caged his face, "I'm just very tired. I can't control myself."

"Why not take a nap?" Gwen asked.

He suddenly started to squirm in his seat erratically, holding his head tightly, "No! No! No sleep! Don't want to get sick! No rest!"

Slade immediately rushed over and tried to comfort him, "Calm down, you're going to be fine."

He shook his head vehemently as he continued to shake as if there was an earthquake occurring, "No! No! No! I won't give in! Never!"

Kevin put the ship on autopilot - not really trusting Ben to not spontaneously crash - and started to search for something, "I think we have sedatives in the Plumber first aid kit."

He looked high and low through the entire cockpit, but was fruitless. He could have sworn it was there, but couldn't find it anywhere. He was absolutely sure he left it there, how could it have disappeared?

He slammed his hands on his legs in frustration, "It's no use. I can't find it."

"Let me try something," Gwen spoke. She raised a hand, casting a spell, "Somnus."

His head fell against Slade's chest as soon as the spell took effect. He lifted his chin off his chest and saw that he was asleep. He let out a breathless sigh as he let him rest against his chest and wrapped his arms around him protectively.

'For the sake of everyone, I hope his paranoia was just that,' he prayed.

At this point, that's what it may as well be… paranoia. The way he was behaving the other night, was it all an act?

He's known him for nearly a decade - he's known him for literally half of his life - and he knew that he rarely tells a lie unless he has a good reason to do so. So, why did he feel that he wasn't telling the truth? He wished he knew the answer.

He just sounded so credible and so scared of something... or someone. The last time he had seen him like this was when he was a mere ten years of age.

What reason does he have to not believe him now? None; as far as he knew.

"I wish to know what he was so scared of," Starfire spoke.

"Yeah, he said he didn't want to get sick and that he wouldn't give into something," Raven uttered.

"What could that mean?" Ben asked out loud.

The only ones who knew the answers to that were Slade and XL and neither one were going to talk. XL because he was currently asleep and was not emotionally stable to answer any questions. And Slade was not about to betray the trust of his 'son'; not yet, not the right place or time.

"Wake him up," he spoke suddenly, surprising and confusing everyone.

"What? Are you crazy?" Kevin questioned harshly. "That insane little bastard-"

"Don't talk about him that way!" he suddenly snapped.

Kevin growled and it looked like he was about to stand, but then Gwen stood up and held out her hands to them as if to stop them from doing something reckless, "Guys, stop. I think we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been in space for twelve hours straight."

"Why don't we stop for coffee or something?" Ben suggested.

"Coffee? In outer space?" Beast Boy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Coffee is a universal drink, it's sold everywhere," Kevin explained. "There's a space cafe a few light years from here. We can stop there."

It only took about thirty minutes or so to get to the space cafe Kevin referred to. During that time, at Slade's demand, Gwen woke up XL, who was in a full blown panic when he was awakened. He quickly calmed down when he remembered where he was and saw that he was in the arms of his 'father'.

The space cafe appeared to be several floors, most likely for food services and some not so legal activities. Kevin landed the Rust Bucket in a spaceship hanger and they went into the main establishment.

XL's antenna suddenly started twitching, which he ignored at first, but then stopped dead in his tracks when they started trembling. His blood went cold with fear and his heart dropped, he stood there frozen, too afraid to move.

Slade noticed that his 'son' had fallen behind and wasn't moving, "What's wrong?"

"I have a bad feeling about this place," he muttered fearfully. He placed a hand over his stomach when it suddenly started hurting, "I have a feeling something bad will happen in there."

He went over to him and rubbed his back soothingly, "Nothing will happen, I'm right here."

'Where have I heard that before?' he questioned in his thoughts.

They walked inside and saw that everyone else was already ordering. XL looked around nervously and all of the shady people made him nauseous. In Undertown it's no big deal because he has a few connections, but out in space he doesn't know anybody that could get him out of anything.

Cyborg saw them walk in and noticed XL looked a little uneasy, "Hey, you okay? You look a little green."

"My skin is cyan, asshole!" he hissed.

He held up his hands defensively, "Okay, okay, it was just a joke."

Ben heard this and saw them, "Oh, hey guys. Do you want something?"

"Something with caffeine," XL replied, half-joking.

"I'm fine. I don't need anything," Slade answered.

He nodded, tapping his hand on the counter, "Got it."

* * *

While waiting for their orders, XL's stomach grumbled nervously, so he decided to wait for them near the entrance. Although he stood out of eyesight from the patrons, just being near them made his stomach turn. He was just praying that it wouldn't be too much longer so that they can get out of there.

Although everyone else thought that he was just being paranoid, they should have paid mind to his antics. Because unbeknownst to them, they had more than just a few eyes on them.

Most of those looking at them were doing so because humans are considered valuable on the intergalactical black market, almost to the point of being priceless. Humans are considered a delicacy to many aliens and are valued in the slave trade because they can't fight back and escape because they have no powers.

Though, there was one particular group of aliens that eyed only one specific person: Starfire. She's a Tamaranian, one of the most valued species in the galaxy and one of the very few in the Milky Way that's still fighting for equal rights.

The ones eyeing her were a group of feline-like aliens with light greyish brown fur and large, pointed ears, much like the ears of a fennec fox. They wore dark clothes underneath tan poncho-like cloaks.

"Check it out, looks like we got ourselves a troq at twelve o'clock," one of them said.

"Yeah, she's young, bet she'll get top-dollar," another estimated. "What do you think, Fanak?"

The final one, Fanak, the leader, did a thorough visual examination from his view point, "Drug her up and alert the crew, we got a major payday coming up."

One of them smirked and filled a syringe with a clear, yellow liquid, "With pleasure."

They waited until she stood separately from her friends while they continued to wait for their orders and made their move. Little did they know, there was at least one set of eyes that saw what they were doing, no one else may care, but their plan hits him close to home.

"Hello, what brings a lovely lady like you to these parts?" one of them asked politely.

"I am here with my friends on a mission," she answered innocently.

"That's nice. What is it?" the other asked.

"I apologize, I cannot tell you," she replied.

The other slipped the syringe to Fanak, "No need to tell us now, we'll have plenty of time to talk on my ship!"

She had no time to react as he injected her with the drug. Her body suddenly went weak as she felt an overwhelming fatigue.

They dragged her away towards the entrance and made it appear as if they were trying to help her. Because of how he stood out of view and because the dark clothes he wore almost camouflaged him against the dark metal wall, they didn't see XL when he held out his foot and nearly made them trip.

"Okay, who's the wise guy?!" one of Fanak's men shouted.

"Right here," a voice spoke. They looked and saw him standing in the corner with his arms crossed. His hood was over his head so they couldn't see his face.

"Rescuing a damsel in distress, very heroic," the other said and suddenly punched him in the jaw, "but not very smart."

He staggered slightly and opened and closed his mouth a few times, the familiar metallic taste of blood invaded his mouth. "Nice shot," he complimented tauntingly, he stood erect with glints of arrogance and amusement in his blood red eyes, "but not good enough."

He leaped up and kicked one of them in the chest. He then did a backflip and landed on the back of the other.

Fanak dropped Starfire onto the floor and fired a blaster at him, which he was able to dodge, but with some difficulty. He wore a confident and arrogant expression every time he missed, which only pissed him off.

He continued to repeatedly miss his target until his target let something slip up, more like he lost his footing and got shot in the lower chest as he attempted to regain it. Fortunately the blaster was actually a stun gun, it only paralyzed him and wasn't even able to do a very good job of that because of the location of the shot, his clothing, and protective mucus absorbed most of the blast, but it still did a number on him and left him in serious pain.

Fanak's men recovered from the assault and went over to Starfire, while Fanak himself went over to XL. He pulled back the hood he wore and smirked when he saw his face.

"Forget the troq, we got ourselves an even bigger prize," he said.

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?" one of them asked.

He forced him to stand, which caused him to grunt in pain, and removed his hood, revealing his cyan skin, large eyes, and antenna, "We got ourselves a Tyro Yagon."

Both were surprised to see a Tyro Yagon that wasn't in slavery. If a Tyro Yagon wasn't in slavery, there were likely to be dead.

"How? I thought they were all dead?" one asked.

"Not all, many are in slavery," the other said.

"And they just happen to bring in more than any human or troq," Fanak smirked.

One of them glanced at him and added, "And he's young, the musk will be fresh."

"Not to mention he's in decent shape," the other said.

Their boss's smirk widened slightly, "That just means it's going to be a big payday."

* * *

Meanwhile in the cafe, their orders were finally done after it felt like they had waited for hours. Kevin handed out everyone's respective orders, albeit he was somewhat reluctant.

"Okay, who ordered the decaf?" he asked.

"I did," Robin replied. He handed it to him, "Thanks."

"Who got the oat milk latte?" he questioned.

"That would be me," Beast Boy answered, holding his hand up.

"What about the Zandurian milkshake? Who ordered that?" he asked, holding up a cup containing a purple and green beverage.

Cyborg grimaced, "Looks like something Star would order."

It was at that moment that they realized she wasn't there. They looked around a little, but there was no sight of her.

"Where did she go?" Robin asked.

"Maybe she went back to the Rust Bucket," Ben guessed.

They went back the way they came with the intent on going back to the Rust Bucket and taking off, but that would not be the case. In the exit hallway, they saw Starfire lying on the floor with a needle mark in her arm.

Robin dropped his coffee and rushed over to his girlfriend, "Starfire!"

"Is she alright?" Beast Boy questioned.

Gwen felt her mind, "She's conscious and looks like she was drugged."

"With what, though?" Ben questioned.

"How about this?" Kevin inquired, holding up a syringe and a vial full of a yellow transparent fluid. "It's a power inhibitor drug. It's illegal in fourteen galaxies."

"If it's illegal in fourteen galaxies then that can only mean one thing," Cyborg started.

"Slave traders," everyone, with the exception of Slade, finished in unison.

"Where is Xilo?" Slade asked.

He noticed that he wasn't there, even though he said that he would be waiting there. He knew him well enough to know that there's no way he would have left without them.

Robin tapped on his girlfriend's cheek as she began to pull through, "Star, what happened?"

"I... was waiting for... the beverages... and I felt a needle in... my arm," she slurred.

"Can you remember who stuck the needle in you?" he asked.

She shook her head and Kevin explained why she couldn't remember, "The drug is known to cause memory loss and drowsiness."

She then perked up when she was able to remember something, "Wait! I remember... the XL Terrestrial fighting them... and they took him away."

"Don't worry, Star, it's not your fault," he reassured.

"But how are we going to find him?" Ben asked. "This place has dozens of hangers."

"He could be anywhere," Cyborg added.

"And they could be long gone by now," Kevin pointed out.

Gwen closed her eyes and concentrated, "If he was here and fighting those slave traders, then his mana is going to be all over."

"Don't waste your energy, dozens of people must come through here everyday. I doubt you're going to find anything," Slade stated pointedly and impatiently.

She then realized something, "True, but I bet I'll be able to find some on you."

"What do you mean?" he all but demanded.

"You spent the most time with him out of any of us and you've had the most contact with him," she explained, "his mana is going to be all over you."

She closed her eyes again and scanned his body for XL's mana. If his mana was transferred to him via touch, then it should be enough to find him if he's still there.

"Got it. He's in hanger thirteen, top level," she informed.

"Hanger thirteen is on the other side of the cafe, by the time we get there they may be long gone," Kevin avered.

"It only takes a few minutes to take off," Cyborg stated.

"We'll never get there in time!" Slade asserted.

"No, but I know who can!" Ben proclaimed and hit the Ultimatrix.

The vivid green light enveloped him and faded soon after. He was transformed into a black and blue humanoid moth-like alien with moth-like wings and symmetrical shapes on his arms, legs, and neck done in a lighter blue that looked like ice chunks.

"Big Chill?" he asked himself. "Dammit. I was going for XLR8."

"Fly ahead, we'll meet you there," Kevin stated.

He nodded, "I'm on it." He went intangible and phased through the ceiling.

"Are sure that's a good idea?" Robin asked.

"Big Chill can survive in the vacuum of space," he responded. "He might be able to intercept them before they take off."

* * *

Fanak and his men dragged him to their ship on the other side of the cafe without drawing suspicion. It was accomplished the same way they attempted to take Starfire, they made it look like they were trying to help him.

It fooled dozens of people they passed, everyone thought they were doing a good deed, which was far from what they had planned. They believed they had successfully tricked everyone, but they had not.

There was one who knew what they were up to and knew he had to stop them. So he made the decision to follow them, making sure to not tail them too closely and compromise the rescue.

They made it to their ship at the top of the thirteenth hanger and opened the hatch to the cargo hold. Fanak's men forced him to move forward, but he struggled by taking steps back, much to their annoyance and frustration.

They forced him to his knees and Fanak slapped and punched him in the face. He spit up a little blood as a result.

"You should know your place by now," he gibed. "You should know that all you are is a little típote."

"Screw... you!" he hissed, spitting out a little more blood.

He gripped him by an antenna and pulled his head up to look at him, causing him to internally flinch in pain due to his injury getting pulled when he grabbed him, "You're going to wish you'd kept your mouth shut!"

He started panting and glared at him as he growled in a weak and scathing voice, "Take... your... best... shot!"

He raised fist to strike down on him again and XL closed his eyes and waited for the final blow, but it never came. Before he got the chance, a wire suddenly wrapped around his wrist and it retracted, carrying him along with it.

His face collided with a hard metallic object. Brass knuckles to be more specific - energy brass knuckles that knocked him out instantly.

"What the hell?!" one of them shouted.

Small metallic spheres are suddenly tossed at their feet. Realizing what they are, XL closes his eyes and looks away as they explode into flashes of light.

Both men shout out at that burning sensation in their eyes. XL took this opportunity to slam his head into the head of one of them, knocking him out. He then spun on his heel and his foot crashed into the jaw of the other.

He then heard someone ask with a gruff voice in a language that he was somewhat familiar with since it's one of the languages he was taught, "(Are you alright?)"

He stood erect and saw his savior and was surprised to see a familiar magenta armor. It was SevenSeven, a Sotoraggian bounty hunter. He knew who he was because of his reputation and he had seen him with his younger brother SixSix and their elder sister EightEight on more than one occasion in Undertown.

"Um, yes, I'm alright. Thank you," he responded.

SevenSeven then aimed the cannons on his hands in his direction, "(Get down!)"

He hit the deck as he shot laser disks at more of Fanak's men who came rushing out of his ship when they heard the commotion. They shot back and it quickly turned into a kill or be killed shootout.

XL covered his head tightly and trembled abnormally and uncontrollably. He closed his eyes tightly as he was suddenly beginning to have traumatic flashbacks of his childhood, from the day he lost everything to the day he almost lost his freedom forever.

SevenSeven used a wire to drag XL safely out of the line of gunfire. He stood up and hid behind him to protect himself.

"(What are you doing?!)" he shouted at him. "(I got you out so you can run! Leave!)"

He shook his head and replied in his language while ducking behind his shoulder to dodge a laser, "(No! I'm not leaving you! No one gets left behind.)"

He looked up at the ceiling and noticed that it was smooth. An idea popped into his head, it was a long shot, but at least it was better than the alternative.

"(Shoot up at a twenty degree angle)," he told him.

"(Are you sure that will work?)" he asked.

"(It's either that or become the largest piece of abstract art in the Universe)," he retorted.

He wasn't exactly sure what he meant by 'abstract art', but had a feeling it's most likely a reference to what will become of them if they don't fight back. Which he was more than happy to do.

They took several steps back and he shot up at the ceiling at the angle he said. It ricocheted off the ceiling and went down onto them.

It created a cloud of smoke when it made contact with the target. They looked with content when the smoke appeared and believed standoff to be done, at least that was until the cloud drifted away and they saw that they had activated a force field at the last second.

"So much for that idea," XL muttered.

"(You can say that again)," SevenSeven deadpanned.

"What now?!" he shrieked.

"(I'm not sure. You had your chance to escape, you know?)" he retorted.

"Oh, don't give me that!" he grumbled. "(We have to find a way out of here.)"

"(The way I see it, there's only one option: kill or be slaughtered)," he uttered in an ominous, bloodthirsty voice.

His heart stopped, he's already had to endure one massacre and wasn't ready to endure another. Even if it was nearly a decade earlier.

"(Isn't there another option?)" he asked, panicking.

"(Not unless you want to be vaporized)," he answered bluntly.

When he was given no response, he activated every weapon in his arsenal and aimed them directly at them. XL buried his face in SevenSeven's shoulder, he just couldn't bear the sight of another carnage.

Before anything could happen, Big Chill suddenly came through the ceiling. He looked a little surprised by what he saw, he almost expected the hanger to be completely empty, not be a shooting range.

He was still intangible when he remarked, "Aw, you got this party started without me."

"(Tennyson!)" SevenSeven spat. He aimed his artillery at him and was about fire, but he was stopped by XL.

"(No! Don't!)" he shouted, holding down his arm. "(Don't shoot him!)"

"(Why not?!)" he yelled. "(I can finally finish the job I've been given by countless clients.)"

"(Don't be a bounty hunter. Be a good citizen)," he practically begged.

He cursed under his breath and finally caved in, "(Fine.)" He put most of his weapons away. "(Have it your way.)"

Big Chill phased through some of Fanak's men, freezing them in giant blocks of ice. It wasn't long after this that everyone else rushed into the hanger.

"Looks like we missed the party," Kevin remarked.

"Oh, trust me, the party's not over just yet," Fanak said as he stood up with a smirk.

Starfire gasped, "That is him! I remember now. That is the one who injected me!"

Robin narrowed his eyes, "You made a big mistake trying to kidnap my friend."

Slade did the same, "That goes for me, too. You're going to pay for what you did."

Both Gwen and Kevin then gasped when they saw who XL was standing near. SevenSeven, an intergalactic bounty hunter for hire and one of the most aggressive in the industry, not unlike his younger brother SixSix.

"SevenSeven?! What's he doing here?!" Kevin exclaimed.

"You know that armored guy?" Beast Boy asked.

"Long story," he replied.

A shot was suddenly fired at them from one of Fanak's men, who had regained consciousness after he was knocked out. They ducked and dodged the blast.

"Let's just say he's someone who would stop at nothing to defeat us," he told him, "even if it's not for a job. We always manage to take him down though."

"What does he want with XL?" Cyborg questioned.

"It could be he's saving him only to kidnap him for himself," he suggested.

"I doubt it," Slade spoke. "Just look at how he's protecting him like a shield."

They took another look and saw that SevenSeven held an arm out, as if to hold him back from stepping forward and getting hit by the blaster shots. He even blocks him when one of those shots almost hits him.

"I hate to admit, but you might be right," Kevin concurred.

"How do you know this?" Robin inquired.

"Just look at how he's protecting him," he answered. "If he plans to take him to a slave trader or someone like that for quick money, he's not going to give a damn if he's injured as long as he gets paid."

While they were having their discussion, Big Chill was starting to get very frustrated with these slave traders. Every time he takes one down, another shows up and fires another shot at him.

'Okay. It's time to end this,' he thought.

He hit the Ultimatrix symbol on his chest and underwent a transformation. His blue was replaced with red and his antennae and wings had yellow and orange accents that looked like flames.

"Ultimate Big Chill!" he exclaimed in a raspier voice.

Beast Boy gasped at the spontaneous transformation, "Dude! What just happened?! He changed!"

"The Ultimatrix allows Ben's transformations to evolve into their ultimate forms," Gwen explained.

Ultimate Big Chill took in a deep breath and flames came out when he exhaled. The flames quickly turned into ice, which entrapped Fanak, his men, and the open hatch was completely frozen over.

"What the hell just happened?!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"He calls them 'ice flames'. They start off as flames and quickly turn into ice," Kevin explained.

He nodded, "Yep. It's fire so cold it burns."

He wrapped his wings around himself into a poncho like fashion. He then turned back into Big Chill and back into Ben afterwards.

"Dude! That was so cool!" Beast Boy grinned from ear to ear.

"Right?" he smiled excitedly.

XL shook hands with SevenSeven, "(Thank you, again.)"

"(No problem)," he replied. "(Anything to help an acquaintance.)" He just couldn't help but to grin at that. "(I better get going. I still have a job to do.)"

He nodded, "(See you on Earth.)" He gave a nod of his own and took his leave.

He gave a look to Ben and his team as he left, most likely a glare, they simply watched as he left. It was a little difficult since they fought him so often, but there was nothing they could do since he hadn't committed a crime.

Slade went to his 'son' and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he responded. "A little shaken up, but fine."

"What do we do about them?" Raven asked, pointing her thumb at the large ice blocks.

"The Plumbers in this sector will take care of them," Gwen answered.

"The only place those guys are going is the Null Void," Kevin added. He then commented, "What I still can't figure out is why SevenSeven would help XL. If that's what he was really doing."

"It was," XL confirmed. "We know each other from Undertown."

"What I want to know is why?" he questioned.

"He might be a cold-hearted bounty hunter, but even he has a code of who should and shouldn't be hunted," he mentioned.

"A code? What do you mean?" Robin inquired, intrigued.

"He told me a while ago that an escaped Tyro Yagon that he was hired to return saved his life and, in return, he released him from slavery," he explained. "Ever since then, he's been trying to save as many as he can."

"Wow, that's pretty noble," Gwen commented. "Good for him."

"When I asked about the person that saved him, my first thought was that it could have been one of my brothers," he uttered.

"Your brother?!" close to everyone exclaimed, causing him to cover his ears.

"I thought you lost your entire family?!" Robin yelled.

"I thought so too, but apparently that's not the case," he responded. "I'm not even sure it was my brother, for all I know, everyone really is dead!"

Slade gripped his shoulders, "That's enough. Relax."

He looked up at his 'father' and his heart rate slowed down. He took in a breath through his nostrils and calmed down.

X*-*X*-*X**~o~o~o~**X*-*X*-*X

**(A/N: Finally finished. I had to do some rewriting before I could finally finish this, but it all worked out in the end.**

**In case you guys are confused "(this)" means that people are communicating through the Sotoraggian language. The word "típote" is a Greek word meaning "nothing", a reference to the episode "TROQ" in "Teen Titans".**

**In case you guys don't know, Toy2711 and I wrote and published a one-shot called "A Rhythm of Friendship" together. We both published on our own accounts, so there are two copies of them. Feel free to check them out.)**


	9. Chapter 9

**(A/N: Wow, chapter 9, I honestly never thought I'd be able to get this far because I do have this tendency to stop updating for awhile and sometimes permanently. Anyway, I'm proud of myself for being able to make it so far.**

**In this chapter, our team will be taking a 'minor' detour. I hope you guys enjoy this.)**

O~I~O~I~O-**Y**-O~I~O~I~O

They went back to the Rust Bucket and got inside. They went to the cockpit and sat in the seats from earlier.

XL was slumped in his seat and was struggling to stay awake again. He never got his coffee because it was spilled when they found Starfire on the floor.

He had no other choice but to go back to his other method to keep awake. He put on his headphones and started to look for a song.

Kevin and Ben prepared for take off, finally ready to get going to Augstaka. Unfortunately, that would not be.

Just as Kevin threw a switch to activate the propulsions, sparks suddenly danced on the controls. Both he and Ben immediately shot up from their seats as the ship suddenly shot out of the cafe hanger on its own at lightning-fast speeds!

As a result, everyone either jolted in their seats or fell out of them and onto the floor. Even XL's headphones fell right off his head along with his music player in tow.

"What's happening?!" Beast Boy shrieked as he tried to pick himself off the floor, but failed.

"The autopilot activated itself!" Kevin shouted. "We have zero control of the Rust Bucket!"

Suddenly, the whole ship started to shake as it started to rocket at unbelievable speeds. Everyone either held onto their seats or buried themselves into the floor in order to withstand the intense pressure.

"Its going at lightspeed!" he yelled through gritted teeth.

"Can you stop it, Gwen?" Ben asked, also through gritted teeth.

"I'll try!" she responded. She struggled to lift her hand but managed somehow, "Discombobulus Mechano!"

All the sparks stopped, as did the Rust Bucket. Everyone on the floor stood up and went back to their seats.

"Dude, what a rush," Beast Boy remarked sluggishly as he slumped in his seat.

"Tell me about it," Cyborg muttered.

XL picked up his headphones and music player, they seemed to be okay. That's good, he's not sure what he would do without them. It may seem like an unhealthy obsession, but these items are pretty much the only things helping him keep his sanity.

"Where are we anyway?" Ben asked.

Kevin checked their location and narrowed his eyes, "This can't be right."

"Why? What is it?" Robin inquired.

"It says we're not in the Milky Way galaxy, we're in the Andromeda galaxy," he informed everyone.

The music player and headphones slipped out of XL's hands and onto the floor. He looked traumatized, relieved, and possibly something more.

'Home,' he thought. 'I'm home.'

"How did we get all the way to another galaxy?!" Beast Boy shrieked. "That's like going to another universe!"

'No, it's not,' XL mentally scoffed.

Kevin shrugged, "Time flies by when you're going at the speed of light."

"What do you think caused this?" Cyborg asked.

He shrugged again, "I'd have to check the engine to know what's wrong."

"Need some help?" he asked again.

"I guess so," he replied. "If you know your rocket science."

"Mind if I go with you?" Robin asked.

"Do what you want," he responded.

The three of them left the cockpit to go figure out the problem. It left everyone else to do their own thing in the meantime.

"So it looks like we're sitting ducks for a while," Beast Boy commented.

"Yep, looks that way," Ben mentioned, looking out the windshield. "I better call Reiny and tell him that we took a little side trip."

"Yeah, you do that," Gwen remarked.

Raven was looking through her spell book again and gave it back to her. "How were you able to stop the ship?" she asked.

"I used a mechanical disabling spell to shut down the autopilot and stop the Rust Bucket from going at light speed," she explained. "I can show you how to do it, if you're interested."

Meanwhile, Kevin was down in a small, confined area where all the main engine components were contained. Robin and Cyborg stood on the main floor and looked out for him and handed him his tools when asked.

They offered their assistance, but Kevin practically growled at them for even thinking about touching his ship. Which is something that Cyborg can sympathize with, having his own ship and car either damaged or stolen more than a few times.

"I think I found the problem," he informed them, "someone hand me a wrench."

Cyborg reached for the said tool and handed it to him, "Here you go."

He took from him, "Thanks."

He was down there for a while before he finally came back up with the wrench and a red device. It appeared to be several layers of round, flat components.

"What is it?" Robin asked.

"It's a device that jury rigs all automatic devices and makes them activate on their own," he explained. "It also stresses them out to their limits until they can't function anymore. Luckily, we got it out before any serious damage could be done."

"I'm sensing a 'but' in there," he commented, almost pointedly.

He nodded and added, "But it fried the hyperdrive, there's no way we can make it to Augstaka in one piece without repairs."

They helped him crawl out of there and went back to the cockpit to inform everyone of their situation. If all goes well, there might not be a lot of drama. Then again, there probably will be anyway.

"Okay, who wants to hear the bad news?" he announced the second they walked into the cockpit.

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Slade retorted sarcastically. Robin glared at him.

"Alright, we have a major problem," he informed them, his voice almost monotonous.

"What's wrong?" Ben questioned.

He held up the device he extracted, "This was with all the main engine parts, it causes automatic devices to activate and stresses them out until they can't function anymore. We got it out before any serious damage could be done, but it practically fried the hyperdrive. We need to land somewhere to make repairs, otherwise we'll never make it to Augstaka in one piece."

"So, someone tried to sabotage us," Slade concluded.

"Yup, but they failed," he replied nonchalantly and started to play with the device by tossing it from hand to hand.

"How are we going to get there?" Beast Boy asked, nearly shrieking. "You just said that we'll never get there in one piece!"

"Don't be so dramatic," XL growled.

"I think he has a right to be scared-" Robin attempted to defend his friend, but he was cut off.

"Don't talk to me about rights!" he snapped, standing up. "I have none."

He didn't continue the argument, so he decided to sit back down. He wasn't lying when he said he has no rights, that was true.

Everyone thinks he lies, but he only lies when it's his life that's at stake. And this instance is definitely not that type of situation.

"We'll have to find a place for repairs," he told everyone.

"Where?" Ben asked. "We're in another galaxy, we don't know any planets here."

"No, but I do," XL spoke.

Everyone looked at him, some surprised, others doubtful. It caused his blood to boil, but he was able to calm himself down just in time.

"You do? How?" Beast Boy asked.

"I'm from this galaxy, I'm not from the Milky Way, my home is here," he proclaimed.

"Okay, so where can we land?" Kevin asked.

He shrugged and asked, "What star system are we in?"

"If you're from here-" Robin started, but was once again cut off.

"I _am _from here!" he declared. "I am not lying. Now, do you want to complete this mission? Or do you want the universe to be destroyed?" He had no comment or response to this.

He may not have anything to say, but Gwen did, "According to the database of known planets and star systems, we're in a system called the Nubis System."

"My homeworld is in this system," he commented, smiling. He looked both relieved and content.

"In that case," Kevin started, he was back sitting in the pilot seat, "get up here. I'm not going to take a wild guess about where it's safe to land."

"I guess that's my cue to leave," Ben muttered.

He got up to make room for him and went over to sit in his seat. Just as he was about to sit down, he noticed that he almost stepped on something. He picked it up, it was XL's music player with the headphones still plugged in.

He tapped on his shoulder, "Missing something?"

He looked up and took them, "Thanks."

"Don't start listening to that thing now, I need my co-pilot," Kevin deadpanned. "We're coming up on some planets, do you see yours?"

He looked at some of the planets out there. One was green, likely a forest terrain, not his world. Another was bright red with some black here and there, likely a volcanic world and definitely not his. He gazed over the other worlds, but none looked like his.

He shook his head, "I don't see my home planet."

"Okay, we'll be seeing some more shortly, so don't beat yourself up," he told him, mildly joking.

He carefully directed the Rust Bucket towards some more planets. With the damage sustained during the time that device was messing with it, he had to be extra careful. The last anyone would want would be to lose all of the air and to be torn to shreds.

"Alright, how about now?" he asked.

He looked again, this time longer than before, which raised the hopes of nearly everyone. Only for them to be disappointed when he shook his head.

"You're killin' me!" he groaned.

"Is there anything you can remember about your planet that can help us find it?" Gwen asked.

He perked up when he remembered something, "My parents once said that our world is located in the farthest reaches of the Nubis System."

"Anything else?" he asked.

He thought for a second, "It's nearly isolated."

"What do you mean by that?" Robin asked.

"It means that there are hardly any other planets nearby," he explained. "Because of that, my people were very supportive of isolationism and conservative."

"Are," Raven spoke.

He looked back at her, "What?"

"You said 'were', past tense, you don't know your people are dead," she pointed out.

"We're running low on planets," Kevin announced, getting his attention, "you better pay attention."

For quite a while there wasn't much, just stars, asteroids, and other stellar objects. XL was started to get a little worried because it's not uncommon for conquered worlds to be destroyed, it happens more often than anyone would like to think.

Then, like the light at the end of the tunnel, there it was, his homeworld, Soron. It was a planet that was covered in a murky light gray color, the clouds that constantly cover the skies.

"There it is!" he exclaimed. "There it is, my home!"

Kevin was a little skeptical because it looked like either a gas planet or an ice planet. And he highly doubted he came from either one.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "It looks like a gas planet or an ice world."

"Yes, I'm positive," he responded confidently. "That is my homeworld."

With that confirmation, he set the Rust Bucket ready for landing. He flipped a few switches and pressed some buttons.

He was about to press the button for the transmission radio, but XL stopped him, "Don't. There's no one down there."

He just shrugged and directed the ship downwards into the planet's atmosphere. It was like flying through a cloudy vortex that would take you to an alternate dimension.

"So far, so good. What luck, there are no storms or waterspouts," XL commented.

"Storms and what?" Kevin inquired robotically. "You never said that!"

"This is a water planet. What do you expect?" he questioned pointedly.

The clouds eventually disappeared, revealing a vast ocean with waters so deep that it looked like an endless abyss. In the water were small islands that couldn't be more than six square miles. There were also tall, white buildings that were scattered around atop the ocean via what looked like stilts.

Then, XL could see a familiar place seemingly arising out of the water on the horizon. It was the city he was born in and where he spent his entire early childhood in. He hasn't seen it since the day he left.

"Land in the city on the horizon," he told him, pointing at it.

"Whatever you say," he uttered.

He deactivated the propulsions and prepared the Rust Bucket for landing. When they got to the city, he was surprised and confused to discover that there was no landing path. He was confused, how and where would they land?

"Uh, there's no-" he started, but he got cut off.

"You can just land in the water," he told him.

'That's going to damage the paint job,' he mentally groaned.

"If you're seriously more worried about paint, you can kiss your future children goodbye," he deadpanned bluntly.

He was completely freaked out by that statement. It was as if he just read his mind!

"How did you-" he was about to ask, but he got up from the co-pilot seat before he could finish his question.

He looked at him with a smirk, "Let's just say there's a benefit to having strong hearing."

He snapped out of his shocked state, "Okay, so where's the equipment to fix this ship?"

"While we're at it, where are we anyway?" Ben asked.

"We are on Soron, my home planet," he answered. "We are in the city I was born in."

"You were born here? In this city?" Robin inquired.

He nodded, "Yes. Along with the rest of my family as well."

"Back to my question," Kevin chimed in before anyone else could ask him any more questions.

"There are good chances you will find most of what you need here," he replied.

"Most?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"The rest will be," he started, pointing down, "down there."

"In the ocean? Why there?" Cyborg asked.

"Because it's too dangerous to keep them up here," he responded. "If they fall into the wrong hands, there's a good possibility they could kill everyone and everything in this world."

That's a lot to take in. It also makes one wonder about what it is that the people were so afraid of and how its effects can kill so many.

"How far down will we have to go to get what we need?" Gwen asked.

"Roughly two hundred feet at the very least. At most, it could be as deep as a thousand feet," he answered.

"Two hundred to a thousand feet?" Kevin almost shouted and he was beginning to look very distraught.

He shrugged, "These waters run deep."

"Well, I don't think we have enough equipment for all of us to go down there," Ben spoke pointedly.

"I don't need equipment," XL uttered. "It's not that far deep, I can easily survive down there."

"Not that deep? How far down can you swim?" Cyborg questioned.

"Deep," was the only response he gave him.

"I can turn into animals that can survive in freezing cold water, so I think I'm good," Beast Boy claimed in somewhat of a cocky manner.

"Well, since those two are already volunteering and since the equipment is limited, I think our best chance to find the parts to fix this ship and get off the planet would be if we split up," Robin concluded.

"One team will stay up here and the other will explore down there, right?" Kevin guessed with a grin.

"That sounds like a plan," Slade remarked.

"Okay, so we already have two volunteers-" Gwen began, but she was cut off.

"Three," Slade interjected.

"Right, three volunteers, who else should go down there?" she asked.

"If two criminals are going down there together, then I am too," Robin stated.

"There are a lot of dangerous creatures in the water," XL spoke. "It would be best if we have one more with us as backup."

"In that case, I'll go along too," Ben volunteered himself.

"Then the rest of us will stay and find what we need," she concluded. "Alert us if anything happens, okay?"

Her cousin nodded, "Don't worry, Gwen. We'll be fine."

"I wish you the best of luck," Starfire uttered softly, a hanging concern and nervousness could be heard in her voice.

Her boyfriend caressed her cheek, "Don't worry, Star, everything will be okay."

'No promises,' XL thought with a soft sigh.

O~I~O~I~O-**Y**-O~I~O~I~O

**(A/N: I know this chapter is kind of short, but I think this is a good place to stop. So, don't start to bagger or harangue me (ha ha). **:) :) :)

**For those of you who have read "Interstellar Roots", you know that I didn't give a very vivid description of Soron. That was on purpose, I did it just for a situation such as this. I wasn't aware that would in this story, but I knew it would happen eventually.**

**"Scooby Doo: The Curse of the Lost Civil War Gold" was updated just a couple of days ago, so if you want you can check it out. The next chapter of "Unknown Life" is in the works and let me tell you it's a **_**long **_**one.)**


	10. Chapter 10

**(A/N: I hope you guys are excited for this chapter because I am. Unlike with my "Scooby-Doo"/"Teen Titans" crossover, the chapters that are going to focus on their time on Soron aren't going to be one chapter focusing on one team and then the next on the other, it's going to be simultaneously (if that makes any sense). Well, at least I'll try to, but it'll likely be more of one team than the other at some points. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.)**

I*-***Y***-*I*-***Y***-*I

The underwater team walked out of the cockpit to get the necessary equipment. XL didn't feel like he needed any of it, so he decided to stay behind and listen to a little music. It may be the last time, these waters can be very dangerous.

He noticed that the other team was just about to leave. There was something he needed to ask them while he still had the chance.

"Hey," he spoke up, getting their attention, "I was wondering if you could do something for me?"

"Sure, what is it?" Gwen asked.

"I know it's a very slim chance, but if you ever find the building I lived in when I was young," he took in a deep breath, "could you bring me the pictures on the walls in the living level where I lived with my family? I want to see them again."

Cyborg scratched the back of his head, "Um, it's very unlikely…"

Raven stopped him from going any further, "Yes, we will."

He smiled and nodded, "Thank you." He then went back to his music.

"Why did you do that?" Kevin whispered harshly through gritted teeth.

She sighed, "Because I know what it's like to miss the ones you deeply care about. Not a day goes by that I don't miss my mother and the monks who risked their lives to protect me."

That was a hard case to argue against and it's one that hits close to home. With no further objections, they decided to take their leave.

At least that was the plan before XL had something else to say, "Wait, a little warning, if you see a green mist, do not inhale it no matter what."

"Why? What will become of us if we inhale it?" Starfire asked.

"There's a good chance you could die," he answered in an all too casual tone.

Cyborg's eyes nearly popped out of his skull, "Die?!"

He nodded, "The mist is actually a pathogenic cloud that will manipulate your DNA in such a way that it will make you sick once a year for the rest of your life."

"The rest of our lives?" Gwen repeated.

"To add to the bad news, because it changes your DNA, it can be passed down to your children and so on," he mentioned.

"Does this mean that it got passed down to you?" she questioned.

"Yes, but my species has developed an immunity to it, but I still get sick more often than not," he responded. "However, as far as I know, _only_ my species can fight it so easily. I have no idea of what it could do to anyone of another race."

Kevin dragged a hand down his face, "Great, anything else you want to tell us while you're at it?"

"Actually, yes," he replied. "Thank you."

'Dammit,' he mentally cursed.

"If you can find any pictures, to know they belong to my family, look for my nephew in the pictures," he told them.

"How's a picture of your nephew supposed to help?" he practically snapped.

"My nephew is a hybrid, he looks different from everyone else," he answered. "He has black hair, black eyes, and skin like mine except his is lighter, almost like a teal color."

"Okay, thanks a lot, we should be able to find something with this information," Raven smiled softly.

They eventually left to find the parts for the Rust Bucket, which left him alone while he waited for the rest of his team. He decided to go back to listening to music in the meantime. The song he settled on was one of his favorites, "Let It Burn" by Red.

_I watch the city burn_

_These dreams like ashes float away_

_Your voice I never heard_

_Only silence_

_Where were you when our hearts were bleeding?_

_Where were you when it all crashed down?_

_Never thought that you'd deceive me_

_Where are you now?_

_How long can you stand the pain?_

_How long will you hide your face?_

_How long will you be afraid?_

_Are you afraid?_

_How long will you play this game?_

_Will you fight or will you walk away?_

_How long will you let it burn?_

_Let it burn_

_Let it burn_

_I watch the city burn_

_These passions slowly smoldering_

_A lesson never learned_

_Only violence_

_Is your world just a broken promise?_

_Is your love just a drop of rain?_

_Will we all just burn our fire?_

_Are you still there?_

_How long can you stand the pain?_

_How long will you hide your face?_

_How long will you be afraid?_

_Are you afraid?_

_How long will you play this game?_

_Will you fight or will you walk away?_

_How long will you let it burn?_

_Let it burn_

_Let it burn_

_Will you wait until it all burns down?_

_Will you hide until it all burns down?_

_Will it hurt when it all burns down?_

_Will you fight when it all burns down?_

_Will you stand when it all burns down?_

_Will you love when it all burns down?_

_Will it end when it all burns down?_

_Will you just let it all burn down?_

Just as the last part of the song was about to play, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up and saw it was Slade, he removed his headphones, but didn't bother to shut off his music player.

He was about to say something, but paused to listen to the final verse of the song, which echoed in the room thanks to the speakers of the headphones. There was something about it that hit him close to home.

_How long can you stand the pain?_

_How long will you hide your face?_

_How long will you be afraid?_

_Are you afraid?_

_How long will you play this game?_

_Will you fight or will you walk away?_

_How long will you let it burn?_

_Let it burn_

_Let it burn_

_Let it burn_

_Let it burn_

_Let it burn_

He snapped out of it when his 'son' waved a hand in front of his face, "Are you alright? You look as if you saw a ghost."

He blinked his only eye and rested his head in the palm of his hand, "Yes, I'm fine."

'Why does it feel as if this has happened before?' he mentally asked. 'But I believe it was from a lower perspective.'

He noticed that he was in a Plumber suit, it fit him pretty well, which was pretty surprising considering his height and muscular build and that Ben and his team are the only occupants of this ship. One size fits all, he mused.

"Aren't you going to remove the mask?" he asked.

It seemed to catch him off guard, but only briefly, "Yes, I will."

He then did just that and removed the two tone mask. When he did, XL saw the white hair and eyepatch he saw when he was a young child. He took the mask from him in case he was tempted to put it back on, he wanted to see the face of his 'father' just a little longer.

At that same moment, Robin walked into the cockpit, "We're ready to get going, XL. Are-" he paused when he saw that XL was holding Slade's mask and that Slade himself was not wearing it.

This was the first time he - or any member of his team for that matter - had ever seen his face. He felt like fainting.

"You're- You're not wearing your mask," it took everything he had in him to hold himself back from shouting.

"Is that a problem?" he inquired, his voice was slightly softer and higher pitched than how it sounds with the mask, but it was still deep and almost menacing.

He eventually pulled himself together, "No, it's not a problem, not at all."

It wasn't that much longer later that Beast Boy and Ben walked in. Ben was pretty calm, but Beast Boy's reaction was not so different from the one that Robin did his best to contain.

"Dude! You're not wearing your mask!" Beast Boy exclaimed, pointing at him before falling to the floor, almost in a comedic way.

"Is he alright?" XL asked. "Also, what's the big deal about his mask? It's nothing special. Just a mask."

"Yeah, but do you know who that mask belongs to?" Ben questioned.

"Of course," he replied, "but if it's such a cause for concern," he gave it back to Slade, "it's an easy problem to solve." He then mentally added, 'Just like getting rid of insects among other things.'

Slade stared down at the mask in his hands, a sheen across the orange side of it was telling him to put it on. He was tempted to put it back on, but wasn't sure if he should.

This item to him was like how music was to his 'son'. He's supposed to be strong, but this was his Achilles heel, aside from the ones he cares for the most that is.

To the surprise of XL and everyone else in the room, he gave it back to him, "I don't need it right now."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

He nodded, "Yes, I'm sure."

He placed it aside, "Alright, are we ready to get going?"

"Yeah, but you still need to get a Plumber suit on," Ben told him.

"I can breathe underwater, I don't need one," he responded.

"You still need to put one on to protect yourself from the pressure and temperature," Robin pointed out.

He shook his head, "No, I don't."

He started to take off his shoes, they saw that his feet were no more than two sharply pointed toes attached to the soles, very similar to Ben's transformations. They almost looked like talons without the claws on the heels.

He then proceeded to check the pockets of his jacket and put the items aside with the mask before he took it off. When he did they saw that his arms were practically toothpicks, but the most alarming thing they saw was that they were covered in faint scars.

"My God..." his 'father' muttered in a whispery voice.

The other three were also surprised by the marks that decorated his arms, but they all knew that he was likely not in the mood to talk. Even if he was he likely wouldn't tell them the full truth, even though he claims he never tells a lie.

Finally, he took off the shirt he wore underneath his jacket and was not a pretty sight. They understood what Ben was talking about when he said he was concerned about him the other day.

They saw that he was so thin that not even a skeleton would envy him, it would probably feel sorry for him if anything. It was as if a single layer of skin was stretched over his skeletal frame. But that wasn't even the most alarming thing about it.

No, the most alarming thing was that there were scars - both faint and recently healed - covering his entire torso! Some of them were very jagged, most likely due to accidents, but there were some that were long and straight, no doubt the result of deliberate slicing.

"Holy shit!" someone exclaimed.

XL expected that to be from his 'father', but he saw that he had a hand over his mouth, so it couldn't have come from him. He saw that Robin and Ben were dumbstruck and in shock, it couldn't have been them, they look like they wouldn't be able to talk. However, he did see that Beast Boy was close to ripping his hair out by the follicle. Could it have come from him?

"What's the matter?" he asked, then remarked jokingly, "I would think that this isn't the first time you have seen someone get ready to get into water."

Beast Boy shook his head vehemently, "No, it's not that, dude, it's all those scars you have!"

'Ah, so it was him,' he mused. "Yeah? So? You're acting as if you have never seen scars before."

"It's not that, it's how many you have!" he shrieked.

He looked down at them, some were pretty deep and others could just barely be seen. Some of them he didn't even remember, others he remembered very vividly.

"That's funny, I don't even remember half of these," he commented flippantly.

He might not be taking those war wounds seriously, but they made his 'father' very angry. His 'son' was tortured by others and may have even possibly done so to himself.

He then remarked to himself in the same manner, "Ten years of self-deprivation and survival and look what I have to show for it."

"Ten years?!" Ben's arms were crossed and he looked absolutely flabbergasted.

"I landed on Earth when I was eight," he responded. "But it wasn't until I was nine that it became survival of the fittest."

"Look," Robin spoke, his arms crossed, "I know you're confident you can handle this, and I have no doubt you can, but please put on a Plumber suit for your sake just in case."

He thought it over for a second, before he finally caved in, "Fine, if it will make you happy."

He left the room, giving them a full view of his back, revealing larger and deeper scars than anywhere else on his entire body. Although they were healed, they almost looked like third degree burns covering his entire upper back, as if he had fallen onto a bed of hot coals - if only for a second.

When he left the room, Beast Boy turned lime green and groaned sickly, "I think I'm going to be sick!"

_'You shouldn't have left him on that train,' _Slade's conscience scolded him. _'If you hadn't, he wouldn't be in that condition, physically or mentally.'_

That was a hard argument to argue against, because it was true. He made a mistake that he can't change, no matter how much he wishes he could.

All he could do was reply with an, 'I know.'

Ben tried to take his mind off of the scars by playing with the Ultimatrix. He wasn't going to transform yet, but he wanted to make sure it wouldn't play any tricks on him while down there.

Beast Boy saw what he was doing and asked, "So, what alien are you going to turn into first?"

"I can't transform right now," he told him.

"Why not?" he asked curiously.

"Because if I change back into myself before we get to wherever we're going, I won't be wearing my Plumber suit. The Ultimatrix always changes me into whatever I was wearing after the reboot," he explained.

"How long would you have if you transformed now?" Robin inquired.

"Fifteen, twenty minutes most of the time. Thirty minutes if the Ultimatrix is feeling really generous," he answered jokingly. "But I'll only have about five, ten minutes if I go ultimate. Going ultimate will drain it of its power."

"And will thus increase the chances of drowning, freezing, or being crushed to death down there," XL concluded as he walked back into the cockpit.

He was dressed in a Plumber suit just like they were, except he was missing some of the armor, including the gloves and boots. He likely did so because he felt that the armor would keep him weighted down and the underwater pressure on it could make it difficult for him to swim at the depths they would be swimming at shortly.

"Now, are we ready to go?" he asked, a little moody.

"Yes, we're leaving now," Robin answered.

Ben pressed a button near the pilot seat and a hatch in the top of the Rust Bucket opened. "We'll have to leave through there because Kevin will kill us if we leave through the cargo bay."

'I can think of a million ways he could do that,' XL thought, slightly amused.

He leapt onto the side of the opened hatch and climbed onto the roof. He was soon followed by everyone else.

They discovered that the roof was wet due the impact caused by when they landed on the water. The surface was also slipperier than XL expected and it was difficult for him to stand without slipping.

Which was exactly what happened. He lost his footing and fell off the roof and slid down the side. Everyone else heard this and looked down to see if he was alright.

As luck would have it, he was. He landed on the wing, which was partially submerged in the water. He was on the part of it that wasn't submerged.

Ben got down on his knees and called out to him, "Hey, you okay?"

He cupped the side of his mouth to reply to him, "Yes, I'm fine. Are you coming down?"

"Yeah, we'll be down in a second," he responded. He then stood up and struggled to keep his footing at first, but quickly regained his balance, "Well, it's now or never."

He lifted up a foot and he was sliding down the smooth, wet metal. They watched as he went down and nearly fell into the water due to a miscalculation on his part, but XL caught him just in time and helped him onto the wing.

"You heard him," Slade spoke. "Time to go."

He went down the same way Ben did, but landed on the wing perfectly. He was soon followed by Robin and finally Beast Boy.

"Now that everyone is here, I think it's time to get into the water," XL uttered.

He started to walk down the sunken part of the wing, the water was midway up his calves. He glanced down at the deep waters and saw nothing but the blue abyss that was so familiar and so unfamiliar to him.

Beast Boy crouched down and looked at the water, "I can't see a thing. How far do you think this goes?"

"Probably pretty far," Robin responded. "It's probably as deep as the oceans on Earth."

"Deeper," XL spoke, never looking away from the water. "Soron is roughly half the size of Saturn. So when I said that a thousand feet isn't that deep, I meant it."

As he continued to stare at the endless blue curtain below him, he could see something down there, but couldn't tell what it was. He discovered what it was when it leaped out of the water.

He shrieked in surprise at first and it gained the attention of everyone. They were a little confused to see that he was holding a silver fish with flowing fins, it was squirming in hand in an attempt to slip free.

"False alarm, just a flying fish," he told them, tightening his grip on his catch, "these things are such a nuisance."

They expected him to put the fish back into the water, but he did something completely different. He tightened his grip as tightly as he could until it stopped squirming. He then threw it as far as he could and it landed in the water some fifteen yards away with a small splash.

He dusted off his hands, "That takes care of that."

The three heroes were more than a little freaked out by his actions, Slade was not. After everything he's seen in his life, the smothering of a fish seems pretty low-key. Although, he couldn't say he wasn't a little shocked by his 'son's' actions, he never knew him to be that brutal with anyone or anything.

"Well, are we going to leave?" he asked, snapping them out of their shock.

Robin cleared his throat, "Yes, let's go."

He, Slade, and Ben put on their helmets and all five of them jumped into the water. They went under and Beast Boy turned into a shark. They started to swim down and XL led them to the buildings where the parts for the Rust Bucket will be.

They aren't sure what's in store for them down there, but they better be ready for anything. This planet is much more than just water.

I*-***Y***-*I*-***Y***-*I

**(A/N: I tell ya, I'm tired after all of this. This was hard work, but with a lot of satisfaction.**

**I'm working on the next chapter of "No More Chains" (which is almost done), and I'm also working on the sequels to "Cold Waters" and "A Briskly Encounter" and a new "Star Wars" story that stars one of the most underrated bounty hunters (that's all I'm going to say). Yeah, I've been busy.**

**Also, my birthday is in just a couple of weeks so things might be a little slow in the meantime. So, happy (early) birthday to me.)**


	11. Chapter 11

**(A/N: I hope you guys are ready for this because I know that I'm ready. I'm eleven chapters into this and it just feels so surreal because I never thought I'd ever be able to get this far.**

**Just so you know, warning: semi-graphic detail of corpses and mentions of numerous deaths and mass killings. This is going to be very difficult for me to write, but I hope it's not too difficult for any of you to read. If it is, I think you already know what to do.)**

**0**-x-X-x-X-x-**0**

Kevin, along with the other members of the above water team, was searching through every building they could get into for the parts for the Rust Bucket. So far, they found more than half of what they need, but they still haven't found the most important parts. What they still need to find are a replacement hyperdrive and a battery for the ship.

The only battery for their ship is an especially dangerous one known as Element X. Element X, although is a very powerful energy source, can most definitely be used to kill. Which means it's very unlikely that it will be found in the city, it's much more likely to be found underwater.

In the meantime, they would have to search for a new hyperdrive so that they would have a chance of getting to Augstaka. Once that's in hand and once the underwater team comes back up to surface, it's just a few repairs and that would be all.

"Hey, you guys find anything else we need?" Kevin asked as he held some tools he found.

"I ain't found squat," Cyborg replied, frustrated.

"My powers don't work too well with machinery, so I haven't been able to find much," his girlfriend reported. "But I'll keep looking anyway."

Her eyes glowed a bright pink as she continued her search. Instead of finding a wrench or other tool or even a small machine part, she found something else, or rather someone else… outside the building.

She gasped at the presence she felt, which caught the attention of Raven, who was standing near her. "What's wrong?"

"My powers are sensing someone or something just outside," she responded.

"It's probably just a fish, this planet is nothing but water," Cyborg affirmed.

Raven decided to check it out herself with her powers. "It's not a fish, it's a sentient lifeform. Multiple in fact. They feel suspicious, but not hostile."

"Sounds like a good reason to get moving to me," Kevin uttered.

"Agreed," Starfire nodded. She was beginning to grow a little creeped out by the building.

The five of them left the building in hopes of escaping the lifeforms the two magic users sensed. And hopefully they will be able to find another hyperdrive as well.

As they walked along the platforms that extended from and connected each building, they were watched from the waters below. The soulless white eyes that observed them looked on with suspicion and curiosity.

* * *

The underwater team swam into the depths of what seemed like an endless ocean. XL led the others down where his memory told him where the buildings were. It wasn't much to go on, but at least it was something, which was better than nothing.

He had to swim rather slowly since he's essentially their guide. He doesn't like to swim slowly, but he has to because it's the only way all five of them will be able to find what Kevin needs for the ship.

Robin, Ben, and Beast Boy were still very disturbed by what he did when they were on the ship's wing. They still couldn't believe XL would brutally kill a fish just because he was annoyed by it. It just shows that anything can make anyone with serious problems explode. They just hoped that it was reserved for those flying fish - as he called them - and nothing else.

Slade was a little disturbed by what his 'son' did earlier, but had since gotten over it. After all, it was just one little fish.

In the short time they had been down there, most of what they saw just swam away from them due to not being accustomed to their presence. Some of the creatures, however, looked like they wanted to know what they tasted like, but they all swam away when they saw XL was with them.

"How far down have we gone?" XL asked.

Robin checked a device on his forearm, "According to this, we just passed the one hundred fifty foot mark."

He stopped his movements and turned to face them, "We can stop to rest if you want."

Ben was quick to respond, "No, it's okay. Let's just keep going." His tone was very rushed and his voice was shaky, his face was as pale as a ghost.

This did not go unnoticed by him, he could see right through him. If his time as a repeat fugitive has taught him anything it's how to spot a 'fake face' - as it's what he's heard some people call a person who's an awful person, but pretending to be a good citizen. He's seen it plenty of times before.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"No, there's nothing wrong," he replied in the same manner, quick and nervous.

He narrowed his red eyes, "I can tell there's something wrong. A lifetime on the streets makes you empathetic."

He was silent due to both nervousness and utter shock, his entire body felt cold on the inside, but eventually gave his response, "It's just-" he paused and let out a sigh, "you killed a fish in the most brutal of ways and it was just- just wrong!"

He looked at him oddly, "Not wrong, instinct."

"Instinct?! You're not an animal!" he shouted. The green shark right next to him nodded.

"No, but I am an amphibian, amphibians are naturally aggressive," he replied calmly, "as are primates. Also, why are you so upset about that? Fishermen on Earth do exactly what I did on a daily basis, do you judge them?" No response came. "I thought so."

"I think it's just how you did it that's so startling," Robin spoke, choosing his words delicately.

"I did it the only way I know how," he responded, calmly still. "Isn't it the nature of all life to eliminate what annoys you? However subtle or crude it may be."

That's a hard argument to argue against, because most of it was true. What is the natural reaction whenever someone sees an insect or rodent? To kill them; or get rid of them at the very least.

He was about to say something more, but then spotted something in a massive rock formation near his teammates, except it's not a rock at all. It's actually a type of coral rock his people call "death coral" and for good reason.

It's not that it can kill you, it doesn't do anything to you physically, but it could cause severe distress among other things. Why? Because it's something that can only be formed by the decomposing bodies of the deceased of his species combined with the saltwater of their world's vast ocean.

He swam closer to the formation to get a closer look. His heart dropped and shattered like glass.

He clamped his hands over his mouth and struggled to keep his steady position. It was as if he had suddenly forgotten how to swim.

Everyone went over to him to see what was wrong. His 'father' tried his best to comfort him and calm him down.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Slade asked.

He pointed a shaky finger at the coral rock, "Death coral! Death coral!"

"'Death coral'?" Ben repeated. "What's that?"

He took in several deep inhalations of water, "When my people die that's what becomes of us!" He buried his face into Slade's shoulder like a child would.

While he comforted his 'son', the others got a closer look at this so-called death coral. They immediately regretted it.

They saw the faces of the dead as they took their final breaths, it was as if their petrified faces had been carved into the coral itself. They could see the positions of them as well, some of them were huddled together at their time of death.

What they were seeing wasn't anything to laugh at or be in doubt of. What they were seeing was a preview of death itself.

When XL eventually calmed down, Slade decided to get a closer look himself. He immediately knew what he was looking at and where they were.

"My God," he uttered softly, "we're in a killing field."

Beast Boy started to swim around erratically once he said that. He nearly hit everyone, but they were able to move out of the way just in time. He eventually stopped when his face collided with the death coral.

When he pulled himself away from it and shook his head. When he saw what he hit, he immediately swam away and hid behind Ben.

Some of the coral rock he rammed into fell off the petrified body and revealed the most innocent of things. It's the most innocent of things that have such an impact on everyone.

When XL looked and saw what it was he felt like making like a goldfish when it bites the dust. He immediately went to his 'father' and hid his face from sight.

"What did you see?" he asked his 'son'.

He raised his head slowly and choked up, his mouth covered by a hand before he removed it, "A fetus! One of the victims was carrying a child when she died!"

He understood how traumatic that can be for a parent to see, especially as a father himself, but he never thought it could ever have such an effect on anyone who was not a parent. This proved his assumption wrong; very wrong.

He looked down at his 'son' and was immediately reminded of how he used to coware behind him whenever he was frightened by one of their 'travel companions'. He also vividly remembered how savagely beaten he was when he tried to defend a grieving grandmother when she discovered her grandson was dead.

'How cold-hearted could those bastards have been?' he asked himself. Even he never went so far to do what _they _did. Not even back in his hay-day.

Meanwhile, XL tried to forget the faces of not just the ones in the formation near them, but also the ones he saw when he was forced to leave behind his homeworld. But every time he closed his eyes, flashes of the blood, corpses, and many other things that happened that fateful day flooded his mind.

After Slade was able to calm down his 'son', they started swimming again. Although it was a slim chance, they hoped they wouldn't see any more of that coral.

They swam down further into the depths, but they haven't seen a thing with the exception of very tiny aquatic life. As small as they may be, it's the small things that can be more dangerous than anything else. Especially in the ocean.

"How far down have we gone now?" Ben asked.

Robin checked the device on his forearm again, "It says we're about three hundred feet down."

"Well, at least we are getting closer," XL tried to be optimistic.

'Yeah, at least,' he thought.

As they continued to go downwards, Beast Boy suddenly found his boredom at an all-time low. He just needed to find something at least a little exciting. He doesn't think he's ever been so bored in his entire life!

Unfortunately, there was nothing stimulating enough for him to combat these feelings. He was beginning to wonder if he would ever see something exciting ever again.

Then, he spotted something perched upon a plate rock. It was as if it was being presented to him in the open hands of an angel.

He swam towards it to get a better look at this mysterious object. His team swam ahead of him without realizing he wasn't with them.

It appeared to be some kind of deformed egg, colored the same shade of blue as a robin's egg. It was just simply bizarre and it stood out like a jem on the dark rock.

Suddenly, the top of the egg opened up like a flower and fibrous, glowing white tendrils slowly emerged from it like a cobra coming out of a basket. He wasn't really startled by them because after everything he saw on Starfire's home planet, very little could surprise him.

He tilted his head to the side curiously and the tendrils mimicked his movements. He tilted his head up slightly and it copied him again.

He moved backwards a little, thinking that it would follow him, but that's not what happened. Instead, without warning, the tendrils suddenly wrapped themselves around him and forced him towards it. He tried to get away, but it continued to pull him closer towards it with more force than before. He continued to struggle, but he feared that this may be a battle he would lose.

"Hey, where's Beast Boy?" Robin questioned when he realized his friend wasn't with them.

'I thought it was a little too calm,' XL thought.

He closed his eyes and he concentrated solely on his sense of hearing. His audible range was much wider than any human's, it shouldn't be too difficult to locate him.

It took a moment, but he was eventually able to pick up what he thought was water being swished around violently, as if someone was in a life and death struggle. He swam upwards towards the source of the sounds.

"Follow me," he told the others.

They didn't have to swim very far when they found Beast Boy wrapped in the tendrils of an odd egg-shaped lifeform. He was struggling violently and it looked like he was losing.

His gills were completely covered and he could feel himself losing his oxygen. Just as he thought he was a goner, he could suddenly breathe again.

The tendrils of the odd lifeform had been torn from his body by XL who ripped the fibrous appendages to shreds. The fibers drifted in the water like barbs that had been torn from feathers.

The remaining portions tried to retract back to the safety of the egg, but he grabbed them and tore them out of it, tiny vessels could be seen at the base of each one. The misshapen egg fell limply on its platform as he continued to tear apart its appendages.

When he was finished with its tendrils, he turned his attention to the egg-shaped lifeform itself. He was tempted to tear it out of the platform by the roots and tear it to shreds in his hands, but he decided not to because it was already dead and anything else would be pure overkill.

He turned back to the rest of his team, Ben and Robin looked completely dumbstruck. He looked at Beast Boy, he was the same way.

He rolled his eyes, 'Not this again.' It was trying to kill one of their teammates, how could they feel sympathy for something like that? "Don't tell me you're going to overreact over a merciless pod."

"No, it's not that, don't worry," Ben replied assuringly with a smile. "I was just thinking that it kind of reminds me of when I was a kid and I had this transformation called Ripjaws and I used to fight things like mechanical squid and even poachers."

He grinned, "That's pretty cool."

He let out a small laugh, "Yeah, he was definitely one of my coolest aliens, but I could only use him in or near water because I would dehydrate otherwise."

While they were having their friendly conversation, Robin decided to get a closer look at the dead egg-shaped pod. Carefully, he opened up the top of it in order to get a look inside. He discovered that it had several rows of small, but sharp teeth with serrated edges.

"Don't play with that unless you want to go blind," XL warned in a monotonous voice.

He wasn't sure if that was a joke or if he was serious, but he decided not to take his chances. After all, just because it's dead, doesn't mean that it doesn't have at least a few hidden tricks. And it did.

"Are you okay, Beast Boy?" he asked. He nodded. "That's good."

"You know what else is good? I remember seeing one of those as my parents carried me down here when we were invaded," XL pointed at the pod. "We are getting closer."

"What is that thing anyway?" Ben asked.

He thought about it for a moment, trying to remember what it's called, "_Ubh mealltach_-" he paused, "I'm sorry, it's a deceptive egg. It's what the natives call it, they call it that because it looks like nothing, but then it tries to kill you."

"Natives?" he repeated. "I thought you were native to this planet?"

He was about to respond, when he spotted something coming up behind them. It was a thin, fleshy tentacle with a sharp spine at the end.

He moved them out the way with his arms, shouting, "Look out!"

He grabbed the tentacle near the top where the spine was and tore it out with ease. It started to retract, but he grabbed it again and did something very startling. He opened his mouth and bit down on the fleshy appendage! A black fluid flowed out of it as soon as he sunk his teeth into it. The force of his bite was so strong that when he ripped his head while his still teeth were in it actually tore the flesh clean off the remainder of it.

The rest of it managed to retreat to the safety of its host pod, or so it seemed. There is no escape from a Tyro Yagon when he draws blood.

He then turned his attention towards the egg and narrowed his eyes, growling like a feral animal. This was his quarry and he was the hunter.

He didn't hear Ben and Robin when they started shouting at him. His 'father' looked on at him proudly with a small smile.

He gripped the blue pod on either side and tore it out of the rock it sat on. He sunk his fingers into its girthiness and ripped it half! The same black fluid flowed out of it and gave him almost a wild appearance. He let go of the two halves and watched as they sank into the depths.

He relished in the feeling of finally eliminating his quarry, he now knew how his ancestors felt. It was then that he finally heard Ben and Robin shouting at him. He clenched his fist tightly.

He faced them, his eyes as sharp as knives coated with fresh blood. His jaw was clenched and he bared his teeth as he growled at them in the same way he growled at the egg.

He let out a fierce hiss that sounded like a combination of the warning of a snake, a hostile cat, the sheer cry of a vulture, and a hint of a growl from some other kind of apex predator. When he opened his maw, his team thought they saw a mouth full of sharp, carnivorous teeth.

His ferocious gaze scoured over all four of them before his predatory eyes landed on Beast Boy. In his eyes in his current state of mind, he looked... delicious.

He lunged at them and they moved out his way in reaction, but Beast Boy wasn't able to get away from him as he roughly grabbed onto his tail. He tried to get away from him, even going so far as to bite his arm, but quickly spit him out due to a bitter taste invading his mouth.

'Why does this always happen to me?!' he mentally cried.

He grabbed him by his underbelly so that any attempts to get away from him would be futile. He opened his mouth to bite down onto Beast Boy's tough skin. He flinched in pain and he awaited his final attack, but it never came.

Ben and Robin were able to get him out of his grasp and push him away. He was then wrapped in the arms of his 'father' from behind. One arm was around his waist, the other was around his neck in a choke hold.

As he struggled in his arms, Slade tried to calm down his 'son', "Calm down, calm down, just relax."

Instead, he bit down his arm in an attempt to get away from him. Fortunately, the armor of his Plumber suit kept him protected from his maw.

Slade knew that there was only one way to calm him down while he was like this. It was something he discovered when he first met XL nearly a decade prior.

Even as a young child, he often had frequent episodes of extreme mania and he discovered that he calms down almost immediately whenever he listens to his heartbeat. Which was what he attempted to do, but he wouldn't let him and continued to struggle against his 'father'.

This was all very confusing for Slade, though, he was never this animalistic and wild, he was argumentative and occasionally temperamental, but he was never like this. What's more was that he wasn't calming down, he usually relaxes almost as soon as he looks at him, but it only seemed to make things worse.

He kicked him in the legs, but he didn't let go of him. He continued his kicking, the armor was able to keep him protected, although he would be lying if he said that it didn't make him a little sore. One thing's for sure, he's definitely stronger than he looks.

Robin went over to his friend and observed the bite mark XL left near his dorsal fin. It didn't look deep enough to cause any serious damage and he wasn't bleeding, but it still looked painful.

"Are you okay, Beast Boy?" he asked. He nodded.

"You sure? That looks pretty painful," Ben commented as he swam over to them. He nodded again.

He then looked back and XL, who was still struggling against his 'father', who was struggling to hold him back. He looked like a rabid animal in a cage.

"Just calm down," Slade uttered to his 'son', almost demanding him to do so. Once again, he did not.

He started to remove the armor of his Plumber suit and tore at the body armor underneath with little to no effort, exposing his bare skin. With his skin exposed, it made it impossible for him to keep his grip due to the mucus covering his body. Mucus and water is not a good mix and makes a good grip virtually impossible.

He managed to slip right out of his grasp and kicked him in the gut, putting him into a brief daze, but it was all the time he needed. He swam away at speeds equivalent to that of a missile.

Ben activated the Ultimatrix and was about to transform, but he was stopped by Slade holding back his hand by the wrist, "Don't."

He ripped his hand away from him, "Are you crazy? We can't just let him get away."

"We're not," he responded calmly. "We're going to follow him."

**0**-x-X-x-X-x-**0**

**(A/N: I'd say this is as good a place as any to stop. I know, I'm leaving you guys on a cliffhanger and believe me, I hate them too.**

**Just so you know, XL won't be in that state for very long, but I can't say for how long. All I can really say as of now is that it has to do with his race and his mental stability. Those of you who have read "Interstellar Roots" probably know what I'm talking about.**

**In case you don't know, I recently published a "Star Wars" one-shot called "Birth of a Miracle". If this piques your interest, it has to do with the origin of the Child (Baby Yoda) from "The Mandalorian".)**


	12. Chapter 12

**(A/N: I don't really have much to say except that I hope you guys are ready for this chapter. I know that I'm ready for it.**

**Don't expect for there to be a lot of trigger-happy themes. If anything, the only thing I can say is that there's a couple of graphic details, but it's nothing gory.)**

V-U-V~*o*-*o*-*o*~V-U-V

As they continued to search for the parts they needed for the Rust Bucket, both Gwen and Raven couldn't get rid of the feeling that they were being watched. They couldn't explain it, but it was as if something or someone was following them; watching them.

They went into a building that appeared to be some kind of repair shop, judging by the machines that appeared to be motors and aerospace engineering. Just by taking a brief glance around, it wasn't difficult to determine that they had finally found the place they needed.

Kevin opened a metal box and grinned at the contents, "Hell, yeah!"

His exclamation startled everyone else, making them wonder what he found. Had he found what they were searching for?

"What is it, Kevin? What did you find?" his girlfriend asked.

"Exactly what we need to get out of this galaxy," he responded with a grin.

"A hyperdrive? You found a hyperdrive?" Cyborg questioned, surprised and in disbelief.

"Yup," he replied. He absorbed the metal of the box and took the item out of it.

It was a cone shaped object with a flat top instead of a pointed one and it was approximately one meter tall. It was navy blue in color with darker blue circuits. Several layers of dark metal shielded it from large to small, bottom to top.

He unsheathed himself and tapped on the top of the machine part, "Here it is, a Class 3 hyperdrive."

Hyperdrives are often divided into different classes because of the number of vehicles they can be used in. It ranges from something as massive as a starship to something as small as a basic space pod.

"So, if we have what we need, should we call up the other team then?" Cyborg asked again.

His smile dropped, "No, we still need a new battery before we can go anywhere. If we use a new hyperdrive with an old battery we would be sitting ducks in space."

"What kind of battery are we talking about that we can't find up here?" he questioned, slightly baffled.

"A potentially dangerous one called Element X. When combined with certain minerals and elements, such as what we call iron ore, it could create an explosion powerful enough to destroy an entire solar system," Gwen explained.

Cyborg's jaw practically dropped down to the floor, "It's that powerful?!"

Gwen nodded, "Unfortunately, yes. When Ben and I were kids, a couple of bounty hunters stole a sample of it and came to Earth in order to mine iron ore with the intent on using it for destructive purposes."

"What I find pretty ironic about it though is that it's useless unless used to destroy something or used in ships," her boyfriend commented.

"Well, I say we go back to your ship and do what we can and wait for the others to come back," Cyborg suggested.

"That sounds like a plan to me," he replied.

The cybernetic hero picked up the hyperdrive and held it down over his shoulder. They left the building and started to go back the way they came to the Rust Bucket.

Suddenly, Gwen and Raven felt the same presence they felt earlier. And... whoever or whatever it was, it was close.

So close in fact that they felt prompted to look over the platform they walked on to look down at the waters below. They saw nothing and thought they were just a little paranoid because they were on an alien world they knew next to nothing about.

"Hey, you guys coming?" Kevin called out to them after noticing they were falling behind.

"Yes, we are," Raven responded.

The two girls caught up with the rest of the group and they proceeded to the ship. The presence they felt was suddenly gone and they hoped that they wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

Then, they heard water moving and something coming onto the platform. They looked and were utterly surprised by what they saw looking at them.

It was a group of a couple a dozen creatures of approximately the same appearance. They all had charcoal gray skin, noses like that of an elephant seal, large mouths with thick lips, and pure white eyes that appeared to lack souls.

They all had long, stringy, dark hair that went down to their ankles and covered their bodies like blankets. They wore clothing that appeared to be a mix of oceanic vegetation and the skins of various creatures poorly sewn together.

The arms of these beings were long and spindly with long, sharp, ivory nails. They had webbed feet like that of a frog, although the membrane was not transparent from what they could tell.

One of them stepped forward, causing them to take a step back out of uncertainty, he didn't appear to be hostile, but it was difficult to tell. He wore jewellery made of bones and teeth with aquamarine and violet colored stones. He was the only one to wear such ornaments, which possibly suggested some kind of leadership.

He made sounds that sounded like a school of piranhas chewing at the scraps of another predator. He made an 'X' with his nails and cupped his hands together, extending them out to them.

They couldn't understand what he was saying, but it was obvious he wasn't hostile. Gwen and Kevin were tempted to take out their Plumbers' badges in order to communicate with them, but they worried that it would cause some sort of confrontation based on the mere fact that these people appeared to be quite primitive.

Starfire could use "lip contact" in order to learn their language, but there was just something about their grotesque appearance that almost made her sick. She, of course, knew that it was wrong to think that way, but she just couldn't help herself.

He started to repeat the sounds and gestures again. This time, he looked rather angry that he was not given a response the first time.

Not knowing what else to do, Gwen took a step forward and nervously introduced herself and her group, "Um, hi, my name is Gwen and these are my friends."

He held up his hands to her, as if begging - or demanding - her to give him something. She started to dig into her pockets, trying to find something to give him.

She eventually found something and took it out. It was only a penny, but it seemed that he would take anything she could offer him. She placed in his hands and took a step back unless he got upset with her offering.

He looked at it in his nails with curiosity as it gleamed in the light. He then placed in his mouth and bit into it, but spit it out and it landed right in front of them.

He pounded on his chest and threw his fists in the air. He looked either angry or very displeased with the copper coin he spit out.

"I don't think he liked it," she uttered.

"You think?" her boyfriend retorted.

He then broke off a sharp, elongated bone and extended it towards them. It was like he was trying to threaten them with it, if that's what he was really doing at all.

Nevertheless, in her nervous mind-set, it caused Gwen to inadvertently fire a disk of mana at him. It hit the section of the platform near his feet and it startled him and caused him to fall onto his back.

His followers immediately flocked to his aid and helped him to stand. They glared at them and the hairs of each individual suddenly stood up like the hair of a mage. Then, a green, fog-like mist suddenly emerged from their bodies.

"Could that be what XL was warning us about?!" Cyborg shrieked.

"Let's make a run for it!" Kevin shouted.

Before they could, however, more of these people suddenly appeared behind them. They were trapped.

Kevin opened the door of the building nearest to them, "Everyone inside! It's our only chance!"

Ordinarily he would not run away from anyone or anything, but when the most deadly foe is one they can't fight, he's not going to take any chances. Even though he's not sure if what XL said was the whole truth.

They covered their mouths and noses in order to prevent themselves from inhaling the illness causing mist. Better to be safe than sorry.

Some of them followed them inside, causing them to fight back. They were able to send them back, but that meant nothing if more came in.

While using her powers to push them back, Raven inadvertently backed into a panel that opened a hidden door. It looked like some kind of elevator, a series of buttons on the side revealed a number of floors ranging from the ground floor to roughly sixty levels high.

She gestured for everyone to follow her inside and they rushed over to her. They got into the elevator, but not before Starfire shot one last bolt at them. The doors closed as she pressed the button for the top floor.

Before they knew it the elevator was moving upwards towards the top. Anywhere was better than being where those creatures were.

"What are they? Who are they?" Starfire inquired.

"I don't know, I just know I'm going to kick XL's ass for getting us into this mess!" Kevin growled.

'Technically it's not his fault,' Raven thought.

"Kevin!" his girlfriend growled warningly.

The elevator eventually came to a stop and, with caution, they walked out. They discovered that they were taken directly up to a living area. This was an apartment building.

The flat was completely white, the walls, the floors, the ceiling; all white. The carpets were more of a champagne color, while the furniture itself was the very pale yellow color of seashells.

They took a look around, there didn't appear to be anyone there. It looked like this place hadn't been lived in more years, although it looked ready for its occupants to return at any moment.

"Looks like we can lie low here for a little while," Cyborg uttered.

They looked around the space and went over to a large window that encircled nearly a quarter of that space of the flat. A glance down showed that the creatures had long since left, but the mist they left behind was still in the air.

Raven walked away from the window when something caught her attention on the wall. They appeared to be tablets made out of an acrylic glass.

It looked like there were people depicted on them, but she couldn't tell. It was dark in the space and it was cloudy outside, which made it very difficult for her to make out the characteristics of them.

"Can you give me some light?" she asked no one in particular.

Cyborg turned on the light on his shoulder, "That good?"

"Yeah, that's good," she replied.

With that light, she could see that these were pictures and appeared to be pictures of a family. There were pictures of children playing, adults interacting with each other and their children, a child holding a baby while smiling up at the photographer, there was even one of a newborn baby being held in the arms of his mother while surrounded by at least a dozen other people.

"This... this was home," Gwen muttered sadly.

Raven took a closer look at them and saw a toddler sitting in between the legs of an older child who had his arms around him. The toddler looked distinctly different from the child and from everyone else in the other pictures. He had much lighter skin, almost like a teal color more than a cyan, a tuft of black hair, whereas most of the others were hairless, and black eyes, whereas everyone else had red eyes. He looked exactly like how XL described his nephew.

"Take a look at this," she told the others.

They looked at the picture she was looking at, but couldn't figure out what she was trying to tell them. It just looked like an ordinary picture to them.

"It's a picture of some kids," Kevin pointed out monotonously. "I don't see anything special about it."

Gwen took a closer look at it and she could see what she was telling them. "Not just any kids, look at the younger of the two. He looks exactly like the description XL gave us about his nephew. What are the chances that he belongs to any other family?"

This was extremely difficult to believe because the chances were just so low. They had actually found the building where XL lived with his family until he had to leave the planet.

* * *

"Follow him?" Ben repeated in disbelief. "He must be as fast as a rocket down here! How could we catch up to him?"

"He said we were getting close, did he not?" he pointed out.

He wasn't really sure where he was going with this, "Yeah, so?"

"It's possible that in the back of his mind he knows he has to go somewhere for some reason and might go there in order to figure why," he explained.

"Or he could go to a cave and wait for us to pass by then kill us," he retorted, slightly exaggerating.

"Remember how he got away from me?" he asked.

He was a little taken back by this question, "Yeah, we all saw it."

"I never held him in that position, I always had him facing me, never away from me. Nor have I ever put him into a choke hold," he claimed.

Robin seemed to see where he was headed with this, "Yet he knew exactly how to get out of it, as if it's happened before."

"That means somewhere in the back of his mind at that moment, he was remembering something that likely happened years earlier and from his memory knew how to get out of it," he surmised.

"If he could remember something from years earlier in that state of mind, it's possible that he can remember what he said to us just an hour or so earlier," he acknowledged.

"So, how are we going to follow him?" Ben asked. "He is very fast down here."

"It's been a straight descension down this entire time," he responded. "It's a safe bet to assume that our destination is directly below us."

With nothing to lose at this point, they descended down deeper into the abyss. With no idea what was in store for them and no clue as to what could be lying in wait for them, it was like venturing straight into a war zone.

They continued down for an amount of time that only a divine deity would know. Ben, Robin, and Beast Boy made sure to keep a sharp eye out for anything that could kill them, while Slade was more focused on keeping an eye out for his 'son'. If his experience as a father and as a soldier taught him anything it's that you need to have eyes everywhere.

Suddenly, he extended his arm out to stop them from going any further. They were about to say something, but he gestured for them to be quiet and pointed down.

They looked down and saw at least three buildings, but they were all rundown and destroyed. Looking through a massive hole in the roof of one of them was XL. He didn't appear to be feral anymore, in fact, he looked very calm.

Once he was done with that building, he moved on to the next. He spotted his team above and waved up at them, smiling.

"How can he just look up at us as if nothing happened?" Robin inquired aggressively.

"Because nothing did happen," Slade spoke.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?!" Ben shouted. "He attacked us and bit into you and him!" He gestured to Beast Boy, who nodded again.

"In his mind, he wasn't. He was saving us," he claimed. "He freed him from a certain death and warned us before it had a chance to strike. He might have been hoping that we leave him behind because he's so used to being alone. Or perhaps because he knew that the only way to stop it meant losing his sanity, however brief or prolonged it may have been."

While they stayed behind to think about that, he went down to greet his 'son'. He looked very content to see his 'father'.

"You need to learn to keep up with me," he joked slightly. He then looked up and saw that the others were still above them, as if suspended in animation, "Why are they still up there?"

He looked up at them and gestured for them to come over. They were hesitant for a second, but then made their way down to them.

"Open your mouth," Ben told him as soon as they swam up to them.

He cocked his head to the side in confusion, wondering why he wanted to see his mouth. He looked up at Slade and he gave him a slight nod. With only a moment of hesitation, he opened his maw wide open.

When he did they were surprised to see that his teeth were no longer sharp like that of a carnivore but were more blunted like that of an omnivore. It was as if his teeth had gone through a form of metachrosis.

He closed his mouth and asked, "What are you looking for in my mouth?"

They were dumbfounded and slightly embarrassed that they just had him do that. He looked at them positively perplexed, waiting for some kind of answer.

"Sorry, it's nothing," Robin replied.

"It can't be nothing if you wanted to see something specific," he pointed out.

He was given no response to that before Ben decided to tell him point-blank, "You went insane and attacked us."

Surprisingly, he wasn't at all surprised by that, "Remember what I said earlier about instinct?" He nodded. "Well, what you saw was my primitive instinct."

"Primitive instinct?" Robin repeated.

He nodded, "Yeah, whenever I tear into flesh and draw blood everything goes red."

It was both amazing and terrifying to hear something like that. Just knowing that he could snap and attack them like a hungry shark if he sees blood is a truly scary thought.

"I believe it could have something to do with being descended from an aquatic, carnivorous species," he explained. He then got back to the more important matter at hand, "We are here for a battery, are we not?"

"Uh, yeah, we are. How did you know that exactly?" Ben asked.

"Simple. I knew that the other team would be able to find everything we need to leave except for a battery," he responded.

"What kind of battery are we talking about?" Robin questioned.

"It's called Element X," he answered. "If used properly it can be used to power an entire star destroyer, which are massive and extremely rare. However, if used improperly or combined with certain elements it can be used to destroy a solar system."

Robin's jaw dropped, "It can destroy an entire solar system?!"

He nodded, "That's why we keep it down here for safe keeping." He then gave them some startling information, "We have to go deeper in order to find other storage facilities and buildings."

"Why? Why can't we look here?" Ben asked.

He started to swim away towards the structures and gestured for them to follow, "Come see."

They followed him and he led them to the building he was looking into before they arrived. When they looked inside through the large hole in the roof they saw half a dozen perfectly round, peach-colored eggs. Eggs that looked familiar to Ben, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Eggs?" he questioned.

XL nodded, "This is the nest of what we call a rock whale. By nesting here, she's marked her territory. We can't search in this area, we just can't. We have to leave before she comes back. Otherwise, she will devour all of you."

"Us? Why not you, too?" he asked again, confused.

"I'm protected by the mucus that covers my body, it makes me taste bitter to potential predators," he replied with a slight smile that showed a hidden smugness behind it. "They just spit me out." He then went on to add something, "However, there is a way to avoid being devoured."

"How?" Robin inquired.

Before that could be answered, a call that sounded like that of a vulture and a blue whale rang out. XL knew what that sound meant and that it wasn't anything good.

"We have to move out, now!" he stated.

"Wait, let's look around for a minute, maybe we can find what we need before it gets here," Ben told him rather calmly.

"First off, not an 'it', a female. Second, do you have a death wish?!" he shrieked, pushing him back.

He held up his hands defensively, "I get why you're scared-"

He cut him off, "No, you don't!"

"But if we can find the battery here, we can leave quicker," he finished, unfazed by him.

"It also increases the chances of getting killed!" he argued, crossing his arms. He then threw his arms up and shook his head, "But if that's what you want, I'm not going to stop you."

He swam away and came to a stop over one hundred meters away from them. He wanted to be a safe distance away from them if the expecting mother comes back and sees them there.

While he watched and waited from the distance, they went along to scavenge the buildings for the battery. They decided it would be best to avoid the nest as much as possible and explore the other buildings, which were in no better condition.

Nothing was found in the first building, nothing but debris. It appeared that it had been looted the day it was destroyed. They checked the next and last building, but it was the same as the first.

XL sat on a rock while he waited for anything to happen. He had a device to his head that looked like a fork with only two legs instead of four. His eyes were closed and he was facing down as he let out a deep sigh.

He opened his eyes and looked up when his antenna gave a slight twitch, someone was approaching. It was his team, they were empty-handed. Just as he suspected.

'We should have left already,' he thought.

"Nothing. We found nothing," Robin informed him, somewhat frustrated. He just nodded and said nothing in response.

Ben noticed the device he had to his head, "What's that?"

"It's a device that stimulates certain areas of the brain that induces the production of hormones specific to those areas with the use of sound waves," he explained.

"May I?" Robin asked. He gave it to him.

He examined it and noticed a dial on it with numbers. Most likely the numbers represented the intensity of the sound waves the device produced.

"What's this dial for?" he inquired.

"Intensity," he responded. "One being the lowest, four being the highest. One simply relaxes you, two would be the equivalent of rewarding yourself after a long day of exercise, three would be if you were with someone you like to be around, don't ask me what four is."

"Why not?" Ben asked.

"Let me put it this way, it would be like if you were thinking about something not so innocent," he replied, choosing his words wisely.

The reactions of Ben and Robin were priceless and he was just glad to have a photographic memory. Slade's reaction was just a smile and chuckle.

Then, they heard another call. This time, it was longer and it sounded much closer to them.

However, in the distance, XL could hear something that they couldn't. That's because his audible range was much wider than theirs and allowed him to hear sounds and voices at distances they can't.

He could tell that it was definitely from a rock whale and that it was a male, not a female. Not only that, but it was a young male, possibly an adolescent.

He studied the development of rock whales when he was young, it was one of the first things he learned when he first started out with marine biology. He knew that the way they developed was similar - but not identical - to most sapient species, including his own.

He felt a hand being placed on his shoulder, which snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked to see who it was and saw that it was Ben.

"Hey, we gotta get out of here," he told him. He noticed how he was in deep thought before he interrupted him, "You okay? You looked like you were thinking pretty hard about something."

He nodded and replied in a slightly low voice, "Yeah, I was."

V-U-V~*o*-*o*-*o*~V-U-V

**(A/N: I hope all of you enjoyed the new chapter, I had a little fun with it, but it was also a bit of a challenge. I know some of you are probably going to bagger me about the dirty joke I put in this, but I was bored and I did say that I would add a random element in this every once in a while.**

**I published a new story just the other day called "Sieges of Two Lives". I hope those of you who have read it enjoyed it. I'm working on the new chapter for "Hunter to Hero", but it won't be finished for a little while.)**


	13. Chapter 13

**(A/N: Oh, my God. This is chapter thirteen. I've never made it this far before. Heck, I've only gone past nine chapters once so far that's with this story. It won't be for very long, of course, but still, can you imagine how exciting this is for me? I feel like jumping around like a little child.)**

X-U-X-U-X

Ben tilted his head to the side slightly and asked him, "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing," XL replied, rather quickly, much like what he did earlier. "I- I was just reminded of- of an old friend."

He glanced in the direction where the distant sound he heard came from. He wanted to stay in that area to see if his suspicion was right, but they - fortunately or unfortunately - had a job to do.

Slade could see that his 'son' wanted to stay there for some reason. Based on the look on his face and how he was staring off into space, it was likely someone or something he was familiar with. Although he doubted that it was a family member.

"We need to get the battery," Slade spoke.

"Let's get going then," Ben replied.

He looked over at XL, who was looking in the direction he was looking in before. His face was somewhat blank, although it looked like he was looking or waiting for someone.

Slade placed a hand on XL's shoulder, which snapped him out of his state, "We're leaving." He nodded.

While they started to swim away, he glanced back in the distance one last time. 'I know that was you, old friend. Come find us.'

His team gestured for him to join them, they were already quite far away from him. He started to swim towards them so that they could find the battery they needed and get out of any incoming danger.

He tried to put the call he heard in the back of his mind, but he couldn't. If he was right about who he thought the call was made by, there was a chance they could be reunited after years of separation; if a very slim one.

* * *

"Well, I'm gonna take a look around," Kevin announced to no one in particular.

"Maybe we can find something that'll help us get outta here," Cyborg uttered as they started to walk down a hallway that ran alongside the wall with the pictures.

While they did their search, the girls decided to stay in the living area and take a closer look at the pictures they found. For some reason, Raven thought there was another reason why XL wanted them. Although she was doubtful that it was for any sort of malign purpose.

One of the pictures Starfire was looking at was of a group of children, all the same approximate age, playing a game in the water. The smallest of the children sat at the edge of a platform, he looked very sad that the others were playing while he was not.

She couldn't help but to feel sorry for the child in the picture, although she wondered why he could not be with them. She wasn't sure if it was because he didn't yet know how to swim or if his parents or other family members wouldn't let him.

"How sad," she muttered softly to herself.

Meanwhile, Gwen was looking at a picture of a woman facing a transparent panel while a child not so different from the lone boy in the picture Starfire had was paying close attention to her. He looked very intrigued by what she was teaching him, his eyes were glazed over and resembled smooth and shiny rubies. And she was intrigued by it as well.

On the panel was something vividly familiar to her, it looked like something out of her magic book. It was a series of geometric and symmetric lines that created a cluster of shapes all overlapping each other.

"Hey," she uttered, getting their attention, "come take a look at this."

Both of them went over to her to see what she was referring to. When they saw it, both thought it was quite interesting, but only had a slight idea of what it could be.

"It is very interesting and artistic," Starfire commented.

"It looks like it's either part of the Nazca lines in Peru or something out of Hindu mythology," Raven estimated.

"I'll have to double check when we get back to the Rust Bucket, but it almost looks like a magic circle in my spellbook," she claimed, holding her chin.

"Magic circle?" the dark Titan questioned. She then went into thought about that and remembered something, "I think there might be something like this in my spellbook, too. If my memory is right, I believe it has to do with a person's dreams."

Gwen internally flinched when she heard that, "That's a very dangerous topic. I have a few spells that involve the mind, but I never use them because I'm afraid that it could end causing brain damage."

"A truly frightening thought," Starfire uttered.

She nodded, "You can say that again."

"You girls might want to check this out," Cyborg told them as he came back into the room.

They set the pictures down and followed him down the hall. He led them to a room that looked like the room of a young child, perhaps no older than ten.

Kevin sat on top of what looked like a desk and was looking through a flat square device with a light blue dome at the center. It looked like some type of computer, one only Gwen had seen before, albeit briefly.

"What's that?" Raven asked.

"It's a computer," he replied, "and whoever this used to belong to must be a member of Mensa or something."

"Why do you say that?" Starfire inquired curiously.

"Take a look," he held up the computer.

On the holographic pages he showed them were various topics, ranging from basic mathematics to religion. Most of it was written in a language they didn't recognize, some of it, however, were written in languages spoken on Earth.

"This one is in Spanish," Gwen pointed out on one of the pages they looked at. It then switched to another page and she recognized the language on that one as well, "And this one is in French."

"_Bons yeux_," Kevin complimented his girlfriend, surprising her.

"How do you-" she was about to ask, but he just smiled.

"I listen to you when you study," he mentioned.

She looked very impressed, placing a hand on her hip, "_Merci pour l'écoute_."

He grinned, "_Je vous en prie_."

"Okay, lovebirds, let's not forget why we're here in the first place," Cyborg spoke before it could go too far. "We have to find a way to get out of here and contact the other team so we can get out of here."

"Maybe something on this computer can help us," Raven suggested, taking the computer from Kevin and looking through it herself.

"Good luck, there's probably dozens of things on it and even if you do find something, you won't be able to read it," Kevin pointed out.

"I have a few decoding spells that could help with that," Gwen crossed her arms.

She continued to look through the computer to see if the former owner ever learned about or even studied the pathogenic mist. She recognized a few of the topics she scrolled past, others she did not.

She then stopped when she found a page with a rectangular image of the same green pathogenic mist. "I think I found something, come see."

They gathered around and saw the image, but couldn't make heads or tails about what it said. It just looked like a bunch of scribbles.

Kevin looked at his girlfriend, "Gwen?"

"I'm on it," she responded, raising a hand. "Tuum Manifestis Occulta."

The alien language was then translated into English so that they could all read it. It read:

_"When our race first came to this planet, we were exposed to a pathogen produced by the natives whenever they feel threatened or when angered. When we inhaled it, many fell victim to the illness their bodies produced as the result of contact. This illness is commonly known as 'Soron Sickness' and once the pathogen is in your body, there is no known way to stop it."_

That was a little too much to take in. Just knowing that an illness they can't stop just needs to be inhaled is truly scary.

Still, they couldn't help to wonder about the first words of the page. It said that XL's species was not native to this planet, could that mean that the primitive people they encountered were the original people? It seems possible.

"According to this, the pathogen is only airborne for an hour, then falls into the ocean where it can't survive more than a minute," Raven explained.

"In other words, we're stuck here for an hour," Kevin groaned.

"Looks that way," his girlfriend uttered softly.

* * *

"How much further do you think we'll have to go?" Ben asked nobody in particular.

XL shrugged, "Beats me."

"What do you mean? Have you never gone this far down before?" Robin inquired.

"Yes and no. I have gone to far depths on Earth, but not here," he replied.

"How far down are we anyway?" Ben asked again.

Robin looked at the meter on the arm of his Plumber suit again. He sighed in frustration, "We're so far down not even the meter knows."

XL shivered and rubbed his arms, "We must be, I'm starting to get cold."

"Rub your chest, your arms will take care of themselves," Slade told him.

He did as he was told and started to rub his chest, when he did, however, he discovered something startling. He could feel his own skin, he could not feel the mucus he should be feeling.

He was perplexed by this, 'Why am I feeling skin? I shouldn't be able to, unless…' His eyes widened in realization, 'Shit!'

He was very tempted to tell them about his little 'problem', but thought about it for a second. They really didn't need to know that his mucus froze off his body. He would eventually be able to generate another coating of it after all, although it would take some time before he could.

Losing his protection wasn't the end of the world, although it did make him vulnerable to anything large enough to swallow him. Now, he was praying that they don't come across a rock whale, all five of them will be dead meat if they do.

He cupped his ear as if listening to a distant sound even though he heard nothing. "We have to leave."

He started to swim away and gestured for them to follow. Ben, Robin, and Beast Boy readily followed him, but Slade had his suspicions. His 'son' wasn't the only one with enhanced senses. Although his weren't as strong as his, he knew that there was nothing coming their way. He went along with it, however, and said nothing.

They continued to descend for a while, before XL suddenly held his arms out in a wide gesture. They were about to ask what was going on, when he gave them the gesture to be quiet and pointed downward.

They looked down and saw another nest of three eggs. Except, this time, the mother was there with her unhatched offspring.

When Ben saw the expecting mother it felt like he was hit with a brick wall. He recognized her as a Krakken, a creature he saw as a kid and helped retrieve her eggs from a band of poachers.

"A Krakken?!" he exclaimed. XL, who was next to him, reacted by punching him in the shoulder.

"Are you trying to get us killed?!" he hissed quietly through gritted teeth.

He rubbed his sore shoulder and talked in a much quieter voice, "Sorry, I recognize that creature as a Krakken, we have them in certain places on Earth."

He furrowed his non-existent brows together in confusion, "Krakken? Is that what you call rock whales?"

"Get down!" Slade silently commanded when he noticed the mother looking in their direction.

All five of them hid behind a rock and held their breaths. They could breathe easily when she looked away to look back at her eggs.

"What now?" Ben asked, his voice still quiet.

He, Robin, and Beast Boy all looked at XL, his eyes widened. He didn't have to be a mind-reader to know what they wanted him to do.

He groaned, "Fine. Nothing you see down here leaves from here, got it?" The three of them nodded hastily, while Slade was very much enjoying seeing them so scared. "Good." He started to stealthily make his way towards her.

He took a position behind some coral, he clung to the rocky wall behind him like a ninja. She heard his movements and looked in his direction, but then looked away, shrugging it off as nothing.

He held his breath, his heart was beating at startling speeds. If he messes up, they were as good as dead, all _six _of them.

_"Are you alright?" _Angelos mentally asked him.

'So now you want to talk?' he snapped.

_"Apologies, blood-sucker," _was the retort he got.

'Oh, you're one to talk,' he scoffed.

It was completely silent in his mind and he thought that meant that Angelos was done, only to find out the hard way that it was not the case. _"Well, then."_

He knew exactly what that meant and tried to convince Angelos otherwise, 'No, don't!'

He felt a wave of nausea come crashing down onto him. He was nearly overpowered by this intense nauseous feeling and struggled to keep his position.

He tried to stay focused on the rock whale, but his head started to feel cold and he was also lightheaded. He held the side of his head in his hand and gritted his teeth.

Slade wasn't sure if it was his "criminal's intuition" - as XL called it - or his fatherly instincts. All he knew was that he had a feeling that his 'son' was in distress and that was enough for him to go into full-on parent mode.

He left their position and left in the direction his 'son' left in. The mother rock whale didn't seem to notice him, she was still preoccupied with her offspring.

"What's he doing?!" Ben tried not to yell.

"I knew we couldn't trust him!" Robin spat.

XL tried to hold on for as long as he could, it was too much for him to handle. He fell from the rocky wall he held onto and fell onto the coral he hid behind, destroying it in the process. He held onto a root that stuck out of the wall as he went, pulling it out along with some rocks.

The sounds caught the attention of the rock whale. She let out a roar that sounded like a screech at the sight of the intruder in her territory.

Before she could make her move to rid herself and her eggs of the intruder, she stopped when a member of a species she had never seen before came to the aid of the Tyro Yagon. As a mother, she knew that this was a case of parental instincts taking over to come to the aid of a child, even if they may not be theirs.

She decided not to attack them because of that and gave them a pass. She settled back into her nest to tend to her eggs.

Robin, Ben, and Beast Boy were utterly perplexed by her actions. They thought for sure they would have to engage in a battle with the colossal creature.

Warily, they started to make their way to Slade and XL. Which wouldn't be as easy as it may sound.

She could smell the scent of a new creature invading her nesting ground. That scent was from Beast Boy, who had long since turned into a toothfish.

She looked in the direction where the scent came from and saw Ben and Robin. She let out another screeching roar and went in for an attack.

She rammed them into the rocky wall and pinned them with her head. Ben tried to use the electric gauntlets Kevin customized into their Plumber suits, but it did nothing.

XL eventually came out of his dazed state and saw that he was in Slade's arms. He turned his head and saw Ben and Robin pinned against the wall by the head of the rock whale. He might have still been nauseated, but he knew what he had to do and fix his nausea in the process.

"Let go of me," he told his 'father' without facing him.

"Why? What's your plan?" he questioned.

He faced him, he looked serious, "Just let go."

He complied with his wishes and let him out of his grasp, albeit somewhat reluctantly. He swam towards the rock whale, hoping he would be able to stop her while she was still in place and before the next nauseous wave hit him.

Ben and Robin struggled against the head of the rock whale, but it was difficult to move. Movement was minimal due to the fact that they were trapped between a rock and a hard place, literally.

Ben knew there was only one way to stop her, the only way he knows. He activated the Ultimatrix and started to look through his playlist of transformations. He knew that it was very risky since he could turn into something that can't breathe underwater and he didn't know how close or far they were from where XL was taking them to, but what choice did he have?

"C'mon, give me someone who can breathe down here!" he begged the device.

Before he could, however, she was forced to release them when something rammed into her. As it turns out, their savior was another rock whale! This one was much smaller and thinner than her, however, anyone could tell this newcomer meant business.

The force from the sudden attack caused him to be sent back towards Slade at rocket fast speeds. He slammed into his chest and he instinctively wrapped his arms around him.

The impact caused his spinning stomach to feel like it was full of bricks. Not a pleasant feeling, and he's had to deal with it for the past ten years of his life.

"Are you alright?" Slade asked.

"Yes," he lied. He actually felt like he was close to vomiting his stomach out.

He left his arms again and swam towards the fighting rock whales. He could feel the coolness and lightheadedness taking over again and wrapped an arm over his stomach.

He felt a sudden painful rush of what could have fooled him to be acid come up his throat and fall back down. He knew that it was actually gas not acid and what he was experiencing was heartburn, which he was all too familiar with.

He felt a slight pounding on the side of his head that made him dizzy, but it was gone almost as soon as it happened. He was relieved that this was something that disappears as soon as it happens.

Seemingly sensing his ailments, the smaller rock whale swims away from the outraged larger female to his aid. He held out a tentacle and let him lean on it, he gently nudged him with his snout and let out a sad whimper.

Ben, Robin, and Beast Boy were absolutely perplexed by this. Slade, however, was not, he knew exactly what was going on.

The outraged mother wasn't yet finished with the smaller rock whale. She charged him like a bull for another attack.

In reaction to this, Ben activated the Ultimatrix again. He carelessly hit the face without even checking to see if the transformation could breathe in water.

He transformed into a fish-like humanoid with features like that of an anglerfish. He had light gray skin, a black loincloth with thin, wide 'V' shaped stripes, green fins, and a green esca. He had a large mouth with large sharp teeth and sharp claws on each hand.

He let a roar and looked down at himself, "Ripjaws? Sweet. I haven't used him in forever." His voice was quite deep and monstrous, enough to cause a slight shiver to go up Slade's spine even though he was some distance away.

His legs and loincloth fused together to form a tail with a green fin. He took off like a torpedo to intercept the angry mother.

He got in between them and bit down hard on one of her tentacles. She let out a sheer cry and flung him away with the tentacle he bit into. He grabbed onto a part of her body with his sharply clawed hand in order to prevent himself from flying into something or someone.

When he gripped it harder to pull himself up, something very unexpected happened. A white substance came out of her and filled the water around them.

He opened his mouth slightly and some of the substance got into his mouth. He was surprised to discover that it actually tasted quite good. It tasted like condensed milk that had been thinned to be almost as thin as the water itself and it had a slight briny flavor too, but it wasn't overpowering.

Miraculously, the female rock whale was now much calmer than she was before. She was no longer hostile and aggressive, in fact she was very tame. It seemed as if releasing the fluid had relaxed her.

XL had recovered enough from the wave to notice the white fluid floating in the water. He lifted himself off the tentacle and made his way over to the milky cloud. The younger rock whale watched with concern as he swam over.

Once he was there, he opened his mouth and took in some of the milk. His nausea and head problems soon went away as soon as he filled his empty stomach. Although he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel a little sickly.

He patted the expecting mother on the side, "Thank you and I'm sorry we invaded your territory."

She let out a mellow vocalization that sounded like something a blue whale would make. She went back to her nest and curled up around her eggs.

This was something so bizarre in the eyes of the three heroes. To see a creature so aggressive and so hostile become as tame and passive as a domesticated cat or dog was simply peculiar.

What was even more perplexing was the younger rock whale that had come to their rescue. They were grateful that he did, but how and why he did so was a complete mystery.

If Beast Boy could talk he would be shouting, "What the hell is going on here?!"

Since he couldn't do it, Ripjaws decided to do it for him, "Can someone tell us what the hell is going on?!"

With his deep voice it almost sounded like a gruff demand and it caused a surge of anger to boil in the blood of the smaller rock whale. He whipped his body around and swam the short distance towards Ripjaws like a torpedo.

He stopped himself just as he was about to hit him. He was so close to him that his snout was practically touching him. He let out a menacing growl from his throat as a warning and it caused his entire body to go completely cold with fear.

XL gets in between them and places a gentle hand on his snout. "Easy, easy," he crooned in a soothing voice.

He closed his eyes and brought his face to his muzzle. This seemed to make him as calm and tamed as the mother with her eggs.

This was very interesting to watch, it was like a scene out of a fantasy movie. It was as if he was taming the dragon that had been previously causing chaos.

He backed away from him to address the rest of his team. He still kept a hand on him to keep him calm, even though he knew it was unlikely he would suddenly turn on them.

"It's okay, he's tame," he told them.

"Yeah, but taming him was easy, too easy," Robin replied, wary and suspicious.

"What do you mean?" Ripjaws asked.

"I mean that don't you think it's a little odd that he would just calm down spontaneously?" he inquired.

He seemed to understand where he was going with what he was saying, "Yeah, I think I see your point."

Then, XL dropped a bombshell, "If you must know, it's because he's the old friend I was telling you about."

X-U-X-U-X

**(A/N: Well, what do you think? Do you think this chapter is interesting? I certainly hope so.**

**I've wanted to have Ripjaws in this from pretty much the day I started writing it. He's just so underrated and I feel like people just need to be reminded of what caused him to be so iconic in the original series, which is his debut episode, one of my personal favorites. Hence why I decided to add the rock whales to this and have them be revealed to be the same species as the Krakkens on Earth.**

**Translations:**

1\. _Bons_ _yeux. _\- Good eyes.

2\. _Merci pour l'écoute. _\- Thanks for listening.

3\. _Je_ _vous_ _en_ _prie. _\- You're welcome.

**I recently completed "No More Chains" and when I say that, I mean I actually finished the story. So if you want to read the full story, be my guest.**

**Updating might be a little slow for a while because I have a new story I plan to publish (hopefully) by next week. I also have an idea for another story that I've been thinking about a lot lately, but I don't think I'll be able to work on it for quite a while.)**


	14. Chapter 14

**(A/N: I don't really have much to say other than I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's so amazing to me that I've been able to get this far because, to be truthful, I thought I might lose interest in this before I could really get to a significant point in this.**

**For those of you that are getting annoyed with their 'little' side trip, don't worry, it's almost over. It'll likely end by the next chapter, so not much longer.)**

V-U-*0*-*o*-*0*-U-V

"This... thing is your friend?" it took everything Robin had in him to not shout.

The rock whale growled at him when he called him a 'thing'. Fortunately XL's hand was still on his snout, which kept him calm enough to not attack him out of rage.

"Yes and don't call him that," he told them in a manner that seemed to indicate that he was enjoining them.

"Thing?" he repeated, tilting his head to the side.

He snarled at him when he repeated that word, he did not like being called a 'thing', not in the slightest. He bared his large, elongated teeth at them, as if threatening to swallow all of them whole.

XL rested his head on his snout and closed his eyes. He started to hush him in a low, soothing voice. It seemed to calm him down, he stopped baring his teeth at them, although he still looked quite angry.

"Perhaps you shouldn't insult him any further," Slade uttered.

XL pulled away to face them, while still keeping his hand on him to keep him calm, "That goes for everyone, he understands every word we say."

He removed his hand from him, which alarmed him at first, but he calmed down when he felt a hand on the side of his lower jaw. He started to scratch him under his chin and jawline with his free hand. He started to make rhythmic sounds from that throat that sounded like he was purring.

He stopped scratching him, much to his disappointment, and swam up to be level with his snout. Then, the rock whale did something very unexpected, he opened his mouth and licked him. His large tongue brushed over his entire body, everything from head to toe.

Surprisingly, XL wasn't upsetted by this and started laughing. The brief lick didn't leave behind much saliva, mostly because they were underwater, so he simply brushed off what little was transferred.

"Old habits die hard!" he laughed as he flicked off the last of the saliva.

"Are you going to introduce us to your friend?" Ripjaws asked.

He looked back at them, he almost forgot they were there, "His name is Tlaloc, I raised him since the day he hatched." He gestured for them to come closer to them, "Don't worry, he won't hurt you as long as I'm here."

Slade was quick to comply with his word and swam over to them, he trusted him. The others were very hesitant because of his massive size and because it seemed that XL was the one who trained him, and they weren't exactly sure if they could trust a repeat offender.

Eventually, they decided to swim to them when they saw that he really was quite tame. Tame enough to allow Slade to get close to him and even let him touch the side of his face.

"You named him after the Aztec god of rain?" Robin asked.

"I'm surprised you caught that," Slade gibed.

"I was learning about South American cultures at the time and 'Tlaloc' was the first thing that came to my mind when he hatched," he explained, scratching the right side of his snout with a finger.

'I'm surprised there wasn't some kind of attack by the mother,' Beast Boy thought.

As if he could hear his thoughts, XL gave a response, "He's an orphan, he was found alone. One of my brothers discovered him and took him up to the city when no mother reclaimed her lost egg. He was the best birthday present a three-year-old could have asked for." He let out a grateful growl and nudged him with his snout, causing him to laugh.

"So you're like his Dad?" Ripjaws questioned, a little confused.

He shrugged, "In a way, I suppose."

"He must have been a real nightmare to deal with," he commented, joking slightly.

He shook his head, "No, not really. He was quite small when he hatched, smaller than me and I was two feet tall at the time."

"Looks like he went through a growth spurt since the last time you've seen him," it was Robin's turn to comment.

"He isn't at full size, he will be much bigger than this when he's older," he replied.

"How much bigger?" he was almost afraid to ask.

He pointed down at the mother rock whale, "Roughly her size."

'That's huge!' Beast Boy mentally exclaimed.

"Rock whales age just as we do," he explained, "he's an adolescent now. That's what makes them unique." He growled in satisfaction when he said that and nudged him again.

"Are there others like him?" Slade suddenly asked, his hand was near the young rock whale's mouth, near where the base of one of his two tentacles was.

He nodded, "Yes, but very little. I don't understand why, though, they are very easy to train." He then went on, mostly to himself, "They might be predators, but they are intelligent. Not even the natives can argue against that."

"You mentioned the natives earlier, but never explained who they are," Robin uttered.

"The natives are the Soronians, rather short and timid, but otherwise quite peaceful," he answered. "I wouldn't startle or anger them though or that's a lifetime of repeated sickness-" he paused when he realized something.

"What's wrong?" he questioned when he suddenly went quiet.

"I forgot to tell the other team about the natives, I told them about the pathogenic mist that they can produce, but I didn't tell them where it comes from," he responded sheepishly.

"We have to get back up to the surface!" Robin shouted in a panic.

XL covered his ears when his loud voice hit his ears and inadvertently flinched. Tlaloc snarled at him and hit him with the mouth of his tentacle, then forced him against the rocky wall behind him and pinned him with his tentacle. He roared and opened his large maw, revealing his massive, lethal teeth in all of their glory.

Robin closed his eyes and looked away as he neared closer to him. He held his breath as he waited for him to devour him.

"Tlaloc! No!" XL shouted. He swam over to them like a mako shark and got in between Robin and his open mouth.

He complied with his wishes and let him go, closing his maw. He backed away from them, but still stayed near them in case he felt he would be needed.

"I'm sorry about him, he's very protective. Are you alright?" he asked.

He took in a couple of breaths of relief before he gave an answer, "Yes, I'm fine and don't worry, I understand that he's just protective of you, but I don't understand why."

"Why he's protective of me or why he attacked you?" he inquired for clarification, although he thought he already knew the answer.

"Why he attacked me," he replied with a slight smile.

"You raised your voice, they're naturally sensitive to tense voices," he explained. He swam up to Tlaloc and patted him on the side of his face, "Don't worry, he doesn't mean any harm."

Robin came up to him as well and placed a hand on his snout, just like XL did earlier, "I'm sorry I raised my voice and I'm sorry it startled you."

He opened his mouth slightly, just wide enough to slip his tongue out. He licked his hand and retracted his tongue back into his mouth, closing it afterwards.

XL explained the action to him, "He says he forgives you."

"Okay, well," he paused for a second to clear his throat, "we should probably get going. We still have to find the battery and get back up to the surface as quickly as possible."

"We have to hurry, I could change back any minute now," Ripjaws spoke.

"Well, I can't really think of-" XL then paused and looked up at Tlaloc and his eyes widened slightly when he came up with an idea. "Actually, we are almost done."

"How so?" Slade inquired, although he had an idea of what he might say.

He smiled in a slightly knowing manner and looked upward. The others followed his eyes and theirs landed on Tlaloc.

'I knew it,' his 'father' thought.

Ripjaws paled at the idea, mostly because of his history with a protective mother rock whale when he was ten. "I'm not sure that's a good idea," it was obvious that he was nervous, but his voice was so deep it was hard to hear.

"Why not? You just said that you could change back soon and we all know what would happen if that does happen," he pointed out.

He tried to argue against that, but he couldn't. He did say that and, unfortunately, he knew that the Ultimatrix was about to time out.

XL then looked at Robin, "You were quick to say that we needed to get up to the surface, which is true, and the quickest way to do so is with him," he pointed his thumb up at his friend.

"You don't have to convince me," he uttered, "I know."

He turned to the rest of his team, "What do you say?"

"I think you know my answer," Slade replied, causing his 'son' to smile.

'Yeah, I know,' he thought.

Ripjaws sighed, "Alright, fine."

"In that case," he swam up a few feet and grabbed onto the fin on Tlaloc's head, "grab on."

They followed his lead and grabbed onto his fin as well. Since Beast Boy didn't have hands in his current form, Ripjaws had to hold him so he wouldn't be left behind.

"Hold on tight," he told his team. He tapped Tlaloc with his toe, "Let's go."

He took off quickly like a missile, but not quick enough to mistakenly throw them off. The mother rock whale watched as they left and waved at them with a tentacle.

Within a very short period of time they arrived at a building similar to the ones they discovered earlier. This one was in relatively good condition and one-third percent larger than the others from earlier.

Right in front of the building was more of the death coral they saw earlier, but it was in the shape of only one body instead of a cluster of numerous. When XL saw it his reaction was different from his earlier one. Earlier he was distraught, now he grimaced and bore a very bitter expression.

He swam up to the coral rock and stomped on the face of the body. The face shattered into pieces that resembled gravel rocks.

All but Slade and Tlaloc were shocked that he would deliberately deface the face of a dead person. Based on his expression and actions it seemed likely that he knew who the dead person was and didn't like them for one reason or another.

"What are you doing?" Robin asked, trying to not shout and struggling to keep his voice level so as to not upset Tlaloc.

"I recognize him," he replied, his voice almost stripped entirely of emotion, the only obvious emotion in his voice was a rumbling anger in the back of his throat, as if he was growling at the petrified remains.

"Who is it?" he asked again, carefully.

"He's a spree killer and he was once engaged to my cousin," he answered, his voice the same.

"Spree killer?" Ripjaws repeated, his voice a little fearful.

"My cousin broke off the engagement when she gave birth to a stillborn child and an autopsy showed signs of being poisoned with a rare type of kelp that the Soronians used in executions," he explained. "She blamed him and he started to kill her friends, he was finally caught when he tried to kill her father, my uncle, who's an expert in martial arts."

"Do you think he actually poisoned her?" Robin questioned.

His answer was immediate, "Yes. I'm the one who told her about my suspicions because I thought it was odd that she got sick every time she was with him."

He then reached down and grabbed onto one of the hands. He then tore the hand right off the wrist and started to make his way to the building without saying a word.

"What are you doing?" Once again it took everything in Robin to not yell and upset Tlaloc or XL.

"The only way to get into one of these buildings is to have your DNA scanned so that the security system knows you're a Tyro Yagon. My DNA is scrambled because of my bond to Angelos, our best option is to use _alternative_ methods," he held up the hand he took for all to see.

Not surprisingly, Robin, Ripjaws and Beast Boy were in absolute shock at how he was able to nonchalantly take the hand from the corpse without a second thought. Slade, also not surprisingly, was completely unfazed by his actions and his hatred, he knows hatred better than most and knows people with a hatred for him that rivals his for them. Tlaloc, meanwhile, looked at the rocky limb as if it was a toy.

He placed the hand against a small black screen next to closed double-doors that were roughly the size of doors on a house. The doors opened and tossed the hand away as if it was nothing but a scrap of trash, which was most likely how he viewed the single body part, if not the entire body.

Tlaloc went over to where he threw the hand and took in his front teeth. He shook his head around vehemently like a dog would with a chew toy.

He started to enter through the doors and turned to look at them, "Coming?"

Slade was the first to follow once again and started to swim inside. He watched as his 'father' swam in and looked over at the rest of their team. He saw their expression and rolled his head in annoyance.

"You can't seriously feel sympathy for a heartless killer, can you? If you do, go to law school or study psychiatry," he hissed.

They eventually went into the building and he followed them inside, the doors closed behind them. They discovered that they were in a room no bigger than a medium-sized bedroom. XL pressed a button and all the water drained from the room within seconds.

As soon as all the water was gone, Robin and Slade took off their helmets and set them on the ground. Ripjaws transformed back into Ben and he sighed in relief. Beast Boy changed back into his normal form and XL covered his ears before he could talk, he knew what he was going to say within seconds of regaining his ability of speech.

He started to hum along to a song that was playing in his head in order to block out his voice. The song he was humming was "Blow Me Away" by Breaking Benjamin.

_They fall in line_

_One at a time_

_Ready to play_

_(I can't see them anyway)_

_No time to lose_

_We've got to move_

_Steady your hand_

_(I am losing sight again)_

_Fire your guns_

_It's time to run_

_Blow me away_

_(I will stay, unless I may)_

_After the fall_

_We'll shake it off_

_Show me the way_

_Only the strongest will survive_

_Lead me to heaven, when we die_

_I am the shadow on the wall_

_I'll be the one to save us all…_

Beast Boy's mouth was moving and it looked like he was shouting at everyone and everything, with him being the focus of his outbursts. He was just glad he couldn't hear any of it, his hearing maybe powerful, but his mind and senses could only focus on one thing at a time.

He removed his hands from his ears when he finally calmed down. He pretended to know what he so stressed out by telling him, "Get over it." He said it very calmly and with a slight smile on his face as he began to walk towards the massive door that separates them from the inside of the facility.

"Get over it?!" he snapped. "Do you have any-"

He suddenly whistled and a pounding sound came from the outside. He squeaked and jumped in reaction to that, Ben and Robin also flinched, but that was all.

He winked at him, almost mockingly, "Watch yourself." He turned his attention back to the door with a proud smirk on his face.

He dragged his hand across a touch screen, similar to the one on the outside, and the door retracted upwards, revealing a dark hallway. Lights soon came on and illuminated the once dark hall. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the hall were completely white and the lights almost gave it a glow.

From what they could see, there was nothing in the hallway, it was completely clean and barren. Which meant that they would have to go deeper into the interior if they hoped to find anything, let alone the battery they were looking for.

"Well? That battery will never be found standing here," the ghost of the smirk was still on his lips.

He began to walk down the brightly lit hall with his team following closely behind as he led them further inside. He started to hum along to the lyrics again, suddenly feeling like a real leader.

_...There's nothing left_

_So save your breath_

_Lying in wait_

_(Caught inside this tidal wave)_

_Your cover's blown_

_Nowhere to go_

_Only your fate_

_(Lonely I will walk alone)_

_Fire your guns_

_It's time to run_

_Blow me away_

_(I will stay, unless I may)_

_After the fall_

_We'll shake it off_

_Show me the way_

_Only the strongest will survive_

_Lead me to heaven, when we die_

_I am the shadow on the wall_

_I'll be the one to save us all_

_Wanted it back_

_(Don't fight me now!)_

_Don't make me beg_

_Blow me away_

_Only the strongest will survive_

_Lead me to heaven, when we die_

_I am the shadow on the wall_

_I'll be the one to save us all!_

_Save us all!_

V-U-*0*-*o*-*0*-U-V

**(A/N: I know this is a little short, but I'm still happy with the finished result. I hope you guys agree with me.**

**I didn't use the other team in this chapter because they're pretty much done. Once the underwater team reunites with the above water team, that's it, the teams and this "side trip" is over. Don't worry, both teams will be reunited in the next chapter because I need to move on with this, I think some of you probably agree with that.)**


	15. Chapter 15

**(A/N: Oh, shit, this is chapter fifteen and… oh, man… it just feels so surreal and almost sobering. I've gone through so many milestones with my stories, including this one, and I just feel so proud of these accomplishments. I literally feel like I'm about to cry.**

**As you guys know, they're done with Soron after this chapter, although it is likely to be mentioned or referred to in future chapters. I know this "side-trip" isn't what people really expected, but I did it just to give people a better insight into what XL's life was before it was turned upside down.**

*****0*****~*****0*****~X-Y-X~*****0*****~*****0*****

XL continued to lead them through the halls of the building. Beast Boy wouldn't stop ranting about him biting him and defacing the corpse. He just shook his head and continued to replay the songs from his music player in his head in order to block his voice. He figured he must have gone through half of his songs by that point.

It was otherwise completely silent until it was broken by Robin. "Do you even know where you're going?" he asked.

They all knew that he had never been this far down before, he wondered why he even bothered to ask. He figured it was probably out of habit or perhaps he was just tired of all the silence, if he could ignore Beast Boy's rants that is.

"You already know I have never been down here, why do you ask?" he inquired.

"Just force of habit, I guess," he replied.

He shrugged, "I used to have a habit of biting my nails. I stopped when I accidentally bit a little too hard into my finger and it got infected."

"Do you also have a habit of biting people?!" Beast Boy shouted, pointing at bruises on his ankle that were in the shape of XL's bite pattern.

He rolled his head in annoyance, "Will you get over it? I didn't bite deep enough into your skin to cause bleeding. If I had you would be dead."

"Good thing he was a shark, then. They have tough skin," Ben commented.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and held his arms out to stop them. His legs were rigid, as if he was afraid or cautious of continuing forward.

"What's wrong? Why are we stopping?" Robin questioned.

He responded by spitting on the floor. Red security lasers then appeared and gave the smooth walls a red glow. The closest laser to them was just a millimeter from his foot, he retracted it when he saw that just to be safe.

He pointed up at the ceiling, "If we trip one of those, security drones will come out of the ceiling and slaughter us like sheep."

"Can't you shut them down?" Ben asked.

He shook his head, "I don't know how. Even if I did I wouldn't be able to. I would need an identification card in order to do that."

Beast Boy smiled flippantly, "No problem, I'll just turn into a fly and-"

"That won't work," XL interjected with a sigh.

"Why not?" he asked.

He pointed down the hall where there was a door at the end, "See that door? You have to get into that room to shut them down and the only way to do that is with my DNA and, as you know, we can't because of Angelos."

_"Do_ _you_ _always_ _inculpate_ _others?"_ Angelos inquired.

'Can we talk later?' he entreated him, almost pleading with him.

"Isn't there another way?" Robin asked.

He thought about that for a moment, trying to remember how it could be done. "Yes, there is. It could be short-circuited with electricity or perhaps we could use the wires to manipulate the security system."

Ben looked down at the Ultimatrix and smiled. 'Electricity, huh?'

He started to turn the dial and activated it. He searched through his playlist for the right alien for this task.

XL saw what he was doing and covered his eyes. "Cover your eyes, he's going to transform," his tone was flat and almost monotonous.

The others decided to follow his suggestion and did just that. Even if it was only a brief flash of light, they were in an enclosed space, which was not the best place to be with bright lights.

He pressed down onto the face of the Ultimatrix and transformed into his alien of choice. When the green light filled the hall it appeared much brighter and concentrated, it was definitely a good idea to cover their eyes to protect from.

When it was all over and the light faded away, they saw that he had changed into a sky and pale blue alien with a body like that of a jellyfish. It was an alien XL recognized because they were from the Andromeda Galaxy just as he was.

"AmpFibian!" he explained. "Yes! Finally the one I wanted!"

"And also the only one who can get into the room and short-circuit the security system without the need for another transformation," XL smiled with his arms crossed in a slight prideful manner.

He went intangible and flew through the security lasers like he wasn't even there. He phased through the door and they could see a light blue light in the cracks of the door.

The lasers shut down and the door opened. He was hovering in the doorway like a ghost in a haunted house.

"Come on, guys, I disabled the system, but it won't last for long," he told them.

XL and Slade were the first ones to start walking, leaving the two Titans. They walked side by side, almost in unison, whenever one was one step ahead of the other, the other would catch up with only a single step.

In the eyes of the Titans' leader, watching them walk together was like watching a king and his right hand walking together in all their glory. The only question is who is the king and who is his right hand? It could be one or the other or even, in some way, both.

It was almost as if he was stuck in a trance while observing them, this was broken by Beast Boy when he saw that his friend was falling behind, "Hey, you coming, Robin?"

He snapped out of his state and responded, "Um, yeah, I'm coming."

AmpFibian waited for the rest of his team to arrive. Once the five of them were together, he used his electrokinetic powers to open a second door inside the room.

That door opened to a large room with some items inside, but it was otherwise barren. Many of the items were large crates, possibly storage containers, which seemed to indicate this was some type of storage room, most likely only one of several in the building.

"Don't tell me we have to go through all of these boxes!" Beast Boy groaned.

"It's too much of a risk to keep Element X in a crate with a variety of items that could cause mass destruction," XL spoke.

"In other words it's likely to not be in a crate, but mostly likely in its own container," Robin surmised.

He nodded, then crouched down next to the crate right next to him with a slight grunt. There was a canister right on the side of it, just tall and wide enough to contain the battery.

He picked it up and opened it like it was a thermos. It opened with a pressurized hiss sound and he looked inside of it after removing the top.

"Well, what do you know," he dug his hand inside and took out the contents, it was the battery, Element X, "what luck."

Everyone was in shock at just how lucky he was. All he had to do was check one container and they were done. Just how lucky could he be?

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" It took everything in Robin to prevent himself from shouting.

"What do you mean?" XL looked very confused.

"You just can't be that lucky," his teeth were gritted, although not tightly, most likely to prevent himself from screaming his head off.

He was initially still confused by this until he came to his own conclusion. "Oh, I see. Your sceptic brain just can't handle the idea of luck. If you can't prove it exists, it must not be real. Is that it? Seems only fitting that it would be a detective that can't prove a thing, don't you think?"

He looked smug when he was finished, although it didn't seem to be pure arrogance, but rather pride. He knew he probably hit a nerve by questioning his ability to comprehend the ideas that most normal people would lose their minds over.

He then shrugged and continued, "Truthfully, this is the most luck I have ever had in years. I'm honestly just as surprised as you are."

"So, now that we have the battery, we can leave, right?" Beast Boy asked hopefully.

"Yes, but it will be difficult to get it up to the surface," he responded.

"What now?" the changeling groaned.

"Fine then," he set the battery down on the ground and raised his foot over it. "I guess we really don't need it."

"What are you doing?" AmpFibian asked, he sounded a little nervous.

_"Yes, what are you planning?" _Angelos questioned.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he retorted blankly, his foot directly above it.

"Don't be crazy. If you crush that, who knows what could happen!" Robin looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Why should that concern me?" he inquired, his voice very calm.

_"Xilo…" _he could practically hear the growl in Angelos' voice.

'I know what I'm doing,' he reassured. 'Just trust me on this.'

"Is this a joke to you?!" AmpFibian snapped. "The universe is at stake here and you don't care, do you?"

"You're insane!" Beast Boy yelled.

"Nobody ever accused me of being 'sane' in the first place," he was still calm.

He looked over at his 'father', while he was enjoying his performance, it was time for him to end it. He gave him a look and gave the gesture for him to stop playing with them.

'Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted,' he thought with a mental sigh.

His foot backed away from the battery and picked it up. He set it on the crate and picked up the canister. He put the battery back inside and left it standing on the crate.

He looked over at his team, their expressions were worth the façade. They made him wish he brought a camera with him, despite his sharp memory. It would provide a good way to get out of prison the next time he was arrested for mediocre crimes.

He leaned against it and smirked, "You didn't really think I would, did you?"

"Quit toying with us! You scared us half to death!" Robin practically shrieked.

"In all honesty, I really didn't mean to do that," he confessed.

"Then why did you?" he questioned, his voice a little harsh, although he was more stressed out than anything.

He shrugged, "I don't know. I guess I was just annoyed that you think everything that comes out of my mouth is bad news." He shot a look at Beast Boy, who looked very embarrassed. "All I was going to say was that we have to be careful while ascending to the surface. If the battery cracks, it will be too unstable for powering the ship."

"And this entire trip would have been for not," Slade added.

Now, Beast Boy was really embarrassed. It was his fault for acting the way he did and causing XL to do what he did, or rather what he didn't do. He needed to learn how to be more patient, no matter how stressful the situation may be.

"Alright, I'm sorry, man," he apologized.

Instead of forgiving him, he punched him in the shoulder, although it wasn't hard enough to cause him lasting pain. He started to walk towards the door with the canister in hand in a horizontal position.

"Yeah, you better be," he warned ominously.

Slade followed his 'son' and the others followed soon after, albeit with some hesitation. XL certainly had a bit of a twisted sense of humor, not unlike that of his 'father'.

They were soon back where they started, in the entrance of the building. Slade and Robin picked up their helmets and put them back on.

XL pressed a button near the entrance and the room began to fill with water. Beast Boy turned into a toothfish again when the water level was at his neck. Once the room was filled, he pressed another button and the doors opened.

They all swam out and the doors closed behind them. Ensuring that no one could get back inside for anything.

When they were outside, they saw that the remains were gone. They looked over at Tlaloc and found the missing remains, they were in his mouth. He had apparently gotten bored with the hand and decided to play with the entire body.

He stopped his play and turned his head when he felt a hand patting him on the neck. He saw that it was his friend and dropped the skeleton to lick him again.

He laughed when he did, "Alright, alright. We need you to get us up to the surface." He gave a mellow growl in response.

Everyone grabbed onto the fin on his head again for the ascent. AmpFibian wrapped Beast Boy in a tentacle so that he wouldn't be left behind, just as he did earlier as Ripjaws. XL gave him a soft tap and he started to make his way up to the surface.

It would take a while because he told Tlaloc to be careful with the ascent, although didn't go into specific detail. He knew that the slower pace would really put their patience to the test, but it was either that or agonizing pain for a long while.

* * *

Their entire time up in XL's old flat seemed to be an eternity. Kevin couldn't stop looking at his phone for the time. He was very anxious for their hour to be over.

He groaned in frustration, "It seems like we've been up here forever!"

Gwen sighed, "Relax, Kevin, it's only for a couple more minutes."

"And then what?! The others aren't back yet! We can't even do anything until they come back!" he shouted. She sighed again in frustration.

Raven sat in a chair with the picture of the mandala in her hands. She was still quite intrigued by it, just as Gwen was, although she was more or less analyzing it than trying to figure out what it was.

Gwen saw this and sat down next to her, "Have you been able to remember anything about it in your magic books?"

She shook her head, "No, and, in all honesty, I don't think it has anything to do with magic."

"Why is that?" she asked.

She was about to answer, when Kevin suddenly exclaimed in glee, "Woohoo! Time's up! We can get out of here now!"

"Ah, yeah! I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that!" Cyborg was grinning from ear to ear.

"Alright, let's get our stuff and get outta here." Kevin started to gather together everything they had with them, as did Cyborg.

Once they had everything together, they started to make their way out of the flat. Then, Raven remembered the promise she made to XL.

"Wait, we promised XL we'd bring him the pictures on the wall," she uttered.

Kevin rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on! We have to get out of here before those things come back!"

His girlfriend gave him a look, "Kevin. A promise is a promise." She started to walk back to the pictures, "Besides, this is the first time he's been home in years. Wouldn't you want something before you have to leave again?"

He groaned, "Fine! But you're carrying them."

She, Raven, and Starfire picked up the pictures they took off the wall and carried them out. There were more still on the wall, but they would have been too much for them to handle.

They made it down to the ground floor without coming into contact with the beings from earlier. Perhaps they left, perhaps they were unable to follow them for some reason, or perhaps something else was afoot.

Cyborg looked around to see if the beings they encountered earlier were still around. "I don't see any of those little guys, I guess they left."

Unfortunately, that was said a little too soon. They heard water splashing behind them and the primitive people came out of the water and climbed onto the platform.

"Do you think they're still angry over what happened earlier?" Kevin asked, a little nervous.

As if on cue, their unruly hair stood up and they drew weapons. Although the weapons appeared to be poorly constructed, they looked like they could deliver serious damage to anything in their way.

"I believe they do!" Starfire responded.

"What should we do now?" Gwen inquired, mostly to herself.

"I'll tell what we'll do," Kevin started as he absorbed the materials in the platform, "we're gonna battle to the end!"

Before anything could happen, however, a geyser suddenly erected from the water. When it fell back to the ocean it came from, they were in shock and a little afraid to see the huge creature that caused it. It looked like a creature Gwen knew as a Krakken, although it was smaller.

The people immediately backed down and their hair went flat onto their backs. They looked absolutely terrified of this new arrival.

The creature then looked down at the team and bared its teeth. They looked lethal and ready to rip apart anything at any given moment.

Starfire shot a starbolt at it in reaction to its sudden and menacing appearance. That shot was countered with an electric attack that didn't come from the creature.

"No! Don't attack him!" a familiar voice cried. That cry was from XL, he and the others had fallen to his back when he emerged from the water. "Don't attack Tlaloc!"

They got off his back and rejoined the other team. Tlaloc nuzzled XL with his snout once the five of them were on the platform.

He laughed and playfully tried to push him away, "Hey! Quit that!" He licked him again, which only caused more laughter.

"Okay, am I the only one who thinks this is weird?" Cyborg asked no one in particular.

"Nope," Kevin answered.

Tlaloc eventually backed off from him long enough for him to give them a quick explanation, "This is Tlaloc, he's an old friend of mine." He nudged him in the side. "Okay, he's more family than friend."

Beast Boy wringed out his hair by brushing it back with his hand and pushing out the water, "Oh, man! I like swimming, but I think I'm done with it for a while."

"Amen to that," Ben agreed, he transformed back into himself when Tlaloc broke the surface.

"Did you guys find a replacement hyperdrive?" Robin questioned.

"Yep, and a few other things," Cyborg held up the items in his hands.

"And, XL," Raven spoke, getting his attention, "against all odds, we found the building you grew up in."

"Trying to get away from the creatures you forgot to tell us about!" Kevin chimed in. Tlaloc growled at him and huffed at his outburst.

He put a hand on him to calm him down, "Sorry about that, I really am." He looked back at the Soronians with a sympathetic look before turning back to Kevin. "They didn't mean you any harm, they are just very curious."

"They attacked us!" he shouted.

He looked back at them and used his free hand to make odd gestures. The leader responded by making similar gestures and some vocalizations.

He turned back to Kevin to tell him what he was just told, "He said you attacked him and they attacked because they assumed you were hostile."

"We assumed they were the ones who were hostile," Starfire uttered.

"He held this sharp bone towards me and I panicked and shot at him," Gwen confessed. "I guess I just assumed he was trying to attack me."

"He wasn't. He was offering you a gift," he claimed.

"A gift?" she repeated. "Why?"

"To show you that they aren't hostile. To know that you're not the hostile ones, they will often demand a gift from you. If you can't give them a gift, they give you one, often something they have immediately on hand," he explained.

"Oh, now I feel kind of bad," she admitted.

"Who has the Element X?" he asked his team.

"I have it," Slade held up the metallic canister for all to see.

"Give to me." He did so and handed it to his 'son'.

He opened it and took out the Element X. He held it in his mouth and closed the container.

He took the battery out of his mouth and handed it to Kevin, "Here. Happy now?"

He took from him and looked at it, "Yeah, now I guess I won't kick your ass."

'Asshole,' he mentally grumbled.

He then went over the Soronians and handed the container to the leader. He examined it in his spindly hands before he bowed to XL, who returned it with a bow of his own to show his respect.

The leader turned to his followers and held up the canister to them, they started to make clicking sounds with their teeth. They also bowed, but theirs were more of a slight bow than a full one, like what the leader did. He bowed his head to show respect to them.

Afterwards, they jumped into the water and swam away. He silently laughed to himself when he noticed how they were doing their best to avoid Tlaloc. Their timidness was very amusing to him and he thought his friend felt the same way.

"Now that they're gone, what do you say we work on getting outta here?" Kevin questioned, most likely to everyone.

"Thought you'd never ask," Cyborg replied.

XL had started to play with Tlaloc again and didn't notice the others leaving him behind. Although, perhaps he didn't want to notice them leaving, he didn't want to leave his childhood home yet, even though he knew he had to if he ever wished to potentially come back some day in the future.

"Hey," Slade spoke, placing a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up at him, "it's time to go." He looked away from him and looked up at his friend, he knew exactly what he was thinking. "Look, I know you don't want to leave, but we have to."

"I know," he responded sadly and somewhat heartbroken.

* * *

Slade managed to get his 'son' back to the Rust Bucket, although practically had to drag him because he went stiff at the thought of leaving his home again and the only friend he had for the majority of his childhood. He was just glad that he had experience with this type of situation as a father.

Tlaloc followed them back just to be sure that nothing happened to the person who raised him. Although he was certain that it was very unlikely Slade would do anything to hurt him, he cares about him too much.

Once back to the ship, Slade went immediately inside to change out of his Plumber suit. Meanwhile, XL stayed on the wing to spend more time with Tlaloc until the ship was fully repaired.

He would catch flying fish for him and choked them just as he did just before he and his team got into the water. He would then throw the corpse upwards and watch him catch them in his mouth. It was one of their favorite pastimes back then.

Raven looked out a window from inside the cockpit and watched them interact with each other. She knew how saddened he would be when it was time to leave, fortunately, she kept the promise she made him. If that doesn't lift his spirits, nothing will.

When it was time for them to take off, Slade was the one who volunteered himself to tell his 'son'. His heart ached many times on this trip, but this may by the time where it may be too much for even him to handle.

He slid down the side of the ship and landed on the wing, "We're leaving in a minute."

He looked at his 'father' in the corner of his eye, he exhaled deeply through his nostrils. "Okay," he sounded very sad, although his voice did not strain in the slightest.

He looked up at Tlaloc with a saddened expression and he felt the same way he did. As much as the young rock whale would like him to stay with him, he knew that he had to leave. He wasn't sure why he had to, he just knew he did.

He nuzzled him goodbye and slowly went back under the water. XL picked up the last fish he caught and threw it into the water for him.

'We will meet again some day,' he thought.

He turned away and walked back towards the body of the ship with his head hung in sadness. He barely acknowledged Slade's presence as he began to climb up the side of the Rust Bucket like a spider, his 'father' wasn't too far behind him.

They jumped down into the cockpit and Kevin closed the hatch as he and Ben prepared for take off. With the ship now repaired with a new hyperdrive and battery, they were ready for the flight to Augstaka.

XL stood by a window as the Rust Bucket was activated and hovered above the water for a while before they were rising into the sky. He watched the waters get further away from him until they were no longer visible due to the clouds.

He buried his face into the wall and sobbed. He continued to ball his eyes out without even caring if the others noticed him. Now, he felt like he was trapped within a room alone with no one there to know how he felt both inside and out.

*****0*****~*****0*****~X-Y-X~*****0*****~*****0*****

**(A/N: I'm not lying to you guys, I struggled with my emotions with this chapter. I seriously thought I would just start to burst into tears at any moment. If anyone thought the same thing (or actually did), I don't blame you.**

**The scene where XL says goodbye to Tlaloc is inspired by the "How to Train Your Dragon" franchise, it's a childhood favorite and I've written a couple of stories for that series. If you want to check them out, please, be my guest.)**


	16. Chapter 16

**(A/N: I hope everyone is ready for this chapter because I definitely know that I am. Fair warning though, many points in this will be emotionally moving, but isn't that what you expect after everything so far? I think so.**

**So, with that in mind, I would read cautiously if I were you. I know I've been keeping these chapters pretty light-hearted, but I'm not fooling this time. The reason why I say that is because XL's problems will finally be explained throughout the next couple chapters. Don't say I didn't warn you.)**

**O*~*O*~*O**-U-**O*~*O*~*O**

Kevin was able to put the Rust Bucket into light speed and they were finally on their way to Augstaka. While most of them were relieved, XL was not, he was beyond devastated that he had left his home for the second time.

He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to fully recover from this departure, hell, he never even recovered from the first one nearly ten years earlier. Nobody could ever understand how he felt, not even his 'father'.

He had been crying in the same spot for what felt like hours before he was able to calm himself down enough to move. Dried rivers of tears were left behind when he walked away.

He went into the back and changed out of the Plumber suit. When he looked at it and saw how much he tore off the body armor it made him realize just how much of his sanity he lost for the sake of saving a group of people who aren't even sure if he could be trusted. At least he had the peace of mind knowing that at least one did.

He came back into the cockpit and put the remainder of his clothes back on. A few people were staring at him, but he didn't care. If they want to see what he went through for the majority of life, let them. It wasn't like it never happened before and he knew there were no chances that it wouldn't happen again in the near future.

He was about to put all the items he took out back in his pockets when his stomach suddenly emitted a sour grumble. He held his stomach and made his way out of the cockpit.

Once he was out he made a beeline for the restroom. He opened the door and practically collapsed onto the toilet; kneeling directly in front of it on the floor.

He positioned himself above the toilet bowl and held onto the sides and seat. He opened his mouth and started coughing, the hot liquid contents of his stomach soon poured out of his mouth and into the water inside.

He was finally done and lifted his head up, his throat felt sore and raw. He felt very sluggish on the inside, although thought it was because he was still quite shaken up about leaving Soron.

"Feeling better?" an all too familiar voice asked.

He looked behind him by lifting his arm and looking under. He saw Slade standing there, his mask was still off, he was glad.

Instead of standing up, he moved his body around so he was sitting next to the toilet. He had a feeling he might still need it.

"What are you, staking me?" he asked sarcastically, the sluggish feeling he felt was prominent in his voice.

He might be glad to see him, but he usually needs a little time to recover when he vomits. As a result, he usually seems to be a bit ill-tempered and crotchety for a little while, but typically only for a few minutes.

"I repeat my question," Slade spoke. He might be a patient man, but now his patience was beginning to wear a little thin.

"You have an eye, how do I look to you?" he questioned.

He wasn't affected by how he referred to the fact that he had only one eye, not at all; how he lost it was his fault after all. He has only ever seen him with the single eye, he never saw him with two, he lost the other before they met for the first time.

He looked at his current condition, scanning over every detail of his body. He saw that his head and neck were drenched, the bleak lighting caused his skin to glisten. He wasn't sure if it was due to tears, sweat, or a combination of the two.

He could see his chest rising and falling at a rather quick pace, which wasn't surprising to him. If he had just upchucked the entire contents of his stomach he figured he would be out of breath too.

His clothes were also telling, they were slightly disheveled. His shirt was slightly bunched and wrinkled, while his jacket was just barely holding onto his shoulders.

Overall, he looked tired and virtually unable to stand on his own at the moment. He even had dark circles around his eyes that were more prominent now than before.

He sat down on the floor next to him, grunting as he did. "I won't lie, you look like crap."

He didn't have the strength to get upset with him and laughed good-naturedly, "No argument here, I feel like crap."

He then suddenly asked him, "Tell me honestly, how did it feel when you gave in to your primitive instincts?"

"Truthfully, I don't know," he admitted. "I don't remember any of it. I have no idea if it was an eternal rush of euphoria or if it just felt natural."

He found that a little hard to swallow, but he wasn't going to question him about it. Adrenaline can do very unordinary things to the mind - to put it carefully.

He then saw him grab onto the toilet seat and thought he was going to vomit again, but he instead used it to steady himself as he stood up. He was a little wobbly on his feet, but he was able to make it to the sink without falling to the floor again.

"You better get back to the cockpit before they notice both of us are gone," he told him, turning on the sink.

He did have a valid point, if Robin noticed both of them were gone, that obsessive spiky-haired Titan might get suspicious. And not just him either, most of the eight heroes would probably be suspicious. Slade left the bathroom without sparing a glance at his 'son'.

He finished washing up and dried off his hands and arms. He watched as every wipe left an irritated abrasion that disappeared almost instantly. It was an unfortunate reminder of the fact that he had lost his protective layer of mucus, which was a problem. He just hoped and prayed that no one would notice, that was the last thing he needed.

He finished drying off and turned off the water. He left the bathroom and went back into the cockpit.

He put all of the items back into his pockets, but left his music player out. He finally sat down in his seat and put his shoes back on.

He put his headphones back on and started to look through it for a song. It took him a little while but he eventually settled on "Send the Pain Below" by Chevelle.

_I liked..._

_Having hurt_

_So send the pain below_

_Where I need it_

_You used to beg me to take care of things_

_And smile at the thoughts..._

_Of me failing_

_But long before..._

_Having hurt_

_I'll send the pain below_

_I'll send the pain below_

_Much like suffocating_

_Much like suffocating_

_Much like suffocating (I'll send the pain below)_

_Much like suffocating (I'll send the pain below)_

_You used to run me away_

_All while laughing_

_Then cry about that fact_

_'Til my returns_

_But long before..._

_Having hurt_

_I'll send the pain below_

_I'll send the pain below_

_Much like suffocating_

_Much like suffocating_

He felt someone tap on his shoulder when the song was about halfway through. He looked up and removed his headphones, the person was Raven.

"Yeah? What is it?" he asked.

She cracked a small, soft smile, "These."

A couple of stacks of something flat surrounded by her dark energy powers were set in front of him. She released her powers and let him look at them.

A wave of nostalgia came crashing down on him when he saw the first picture he picked up. "I remember this," he uttered. He placed a hand over his mouth and his eyes started to get watery, he felt like crying.

"You remember what?" Beast Boy asked as he came up to them. He saw the picture in his hands, "Hey, who's that?"

"That's me and my nephew," he answered, struggling to keep his emotions in check. "My sister was trying to get a picture of him, but he wouldn't sit still, so she asked me to hold him in place."

Gwen then got up and went over to them. She started to look through the pictures and showed one to him, "This is the one we were most intrigued by."

"That's a mandala," he tapped on the intriguing design, "it's out of Hindu mythology." He then tapped on the woman in the picture, "And that's my mother."

"She's very beautiful," she commented with a smile.

"Yeah, she was," he replied with a frown in a soft, low voice.

"Don't get all emotional on us," Kevin remarked.

"Kevin!" his girlfriend scolded with her hands on her hips.

"No, no, it's fine," he assured. "I- I really should learn how to control my emotions."

It was difficult to tell if he was being sincere or not. Not that they thought he was lying to them in a deceptive way, but in a manner that suggested he was actually trying to convince himself of his own statement.

His voice was shaky, as was his body, and he felt cold on the inside. He was nervous, that was obvious, but as for why no one knew, no one but him.

He then stood up and did something no one expected. He wrapped an arm around Raven's shoulders and pulled her in a hug.

"Thank you," he uttered gratefully, smiling softly.

Surprisingly, she didn't get upset and push him away, but returned his embrace. "You're welcome."

He pulled away from her and sat back down in his seat. Then went back to looking at the pictures she gave him.

"Hey, how come when I hug you, you push me away, but when it's him, you hug him back?" Beast Boy complained.

'Okay,' he thought. He had a feeling that an argument would be ensuing shortly and he was not in the mood to hear it.

He put his headphones back on and finished the song he was listening to. It was by a favorite band of his after all. He wasn't exactly sure what it was that he liked about it, he just did.

_...Much like suffocating (I'll send the pain below)_

_Much like suffocating (I'll send the pain below)_

_Much like suffocating_

_I can't feel my chest_

_Anymore..._

_Drop down_

_Closing in..._

_I can't feel my chest_

_Drop down!_

_I liked..._

_Having hurt_

_So send the pain below_

_So send the pain below (Much like suffocating)_

_(I liked…)_

_So send the pain below (Much like suffocating)_

_(Having hurt)_

_So send the pain below (Much like suffocating)_

_So send the pain below (Much like suffocating)_

_So send the pain below_

The song ended and he could hear Beast Boy's screams when it did. He shook his head and looked through his playlist for another song.

* * *

It wasn't long before they finally made it to the planetary system Augstaka. After everything they had gone through to get there, it was like they had just discovered the Holy Grail and got rewarded for their efforts by Him.

They descended into the atmosphere and made their downwards. Ben pressed a button and requested permission to land, which was granted.

They landed on the runway and Kevin slumped back in his seat when they did. He was very relieved now that they finally arrived, the same could probably be said for everyone else.

Ben got up from his seat and told everyone, "Get your jackets on, it's time to go."

"Is it really that cold here?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes," Ben, his team, and XL all answered in unison.

"Nobody knows better than us," Kevin added.

XL stood up from his seat and zipped up his jacket as high as it could go. "If there's a spare jacket no one wants, I want it."

"Hey, why should you get it?" Beast Boy complained again.

"Because I called it," he responded with a smirk. He mentally added, 'And because I need to keep warm without my protective mucus.'

They left the cockpit and everyone, with the exception of Slade and Starfire, put on a jacket, or at least something to help them keep warm. Unfortunately for XL, there weren't any spare jackets left for him, but there was a scarf, which he wrapped around his neck, it was better than nothing.

They went down into the cargo hold and the hatch opened for them. They left the Rust Bucket and went outside, where Reinrassig was waiting for them.

"I have been expecting you for some time," he greeted them in a slightly pointed manner.

"Yeah, well, we got a little sidetracked," Ben replied casually. "But, hey, we're here now!"

He was about to say something else when XL suddenly exploded into a coughing fit. He looked down at the ground as he continued his coughs. He started to tug at the scarf around him, as if it was the cause of this sudden attack.

His coughs soon ceased and he began to rub his tender throat. "I'm sorry," his voice sounded raspy and weakened, "my lungs just need to adjust to this air, it's very dry."

"It is alright, Xilo, I am not infuriated," he assured.

He was a little taken back when he addressed him by his real name. Most people just call him by his alter ego or a nickname, only his 'father' and close friends call him by his birth name.

Reinrassig turned around and started to walk towards the building in front of them. "Follow." They did as he told them and followed him.

As they did, they discovered that Augstaka really was as cold as they were told. Vapors were even coming out of their mouths and noses as they breathed and talked.

Cyborg rubbed his arms and shivered, "It really _is_ freezing here!"

"Yeah, we wouldn't lie to you," Kevin uttered.

They entered the building and discovered that it was some kind of clinic. There were beds as well as observation and testing equipment and even what looked like medications.

A Highbreed with red limbs and a red face, blue eyes, and charcoal black body with white highlights came up to them. He held what looked like a tablet in his hands, but it was thin like a cell phone.

"Hello, I am Heilen, I am a doctor here," he introduced himself, "which one of you is Xilo?"

XL stepped forward, somewhat timidly, "I am." He was rubbing his arms when he did and stopped only momentarily to raise a hand in a bit of an awkward manner.

He took notice of this and asked, "Are you cold?" He nodded. "Are you anemic?"

"I don't know," he answered. "I have always had a weakness to the cold."

"Perhaps I could give you an injection," he suggested.

He perked up when he heard that and he looked very nervous and distraught, "I-Injection? As in, sh-sh-sh-shot? N-N-Needles?"

He suddenly felt light-headed and fell backwards. Slade caught him before he hit the ground, but he was barely conscious.

"That's strange," Robin spoke in a soft voice.

"What is?" Beast Boy asked. "His fainting? Or his apparent fear of needles and doctors?"

"How about both?" Slade remarked.

Heilen made a gesture that looked like he was "holding his chin" before he turned to his Supreme Leader, "I would like to conduct tests as soon as possible."

"Agreed. Be sure to inform me of your findings," he told him.

He nodded, "I will once I do."

Reinrassig then addressed the others, "Come with me."

"Why? Are we going to talk about _her_?" Kevin remarked.

He knew exactly who he was talking about and was not amused by his tone of voice. He clenched his fist and growled, "My courtship is none of your concern!"

"What's he talking about?" Beast Boy whispered to Raven.

"He's engaged," she answered simply.

"It's a long story, we'll fill you in later," Ben muttered.

Heilen decided it was best to change the topic before his Supreme Leader lost his temper, he addressed Slade and asked him, "Can you assist me in getting him to a bed?"

He didn't answer verbally, he answered by picking him up in his arms and walking to one of the beds. The doctor followed him and started to take notes once he was on the bed.

Reinrassig took the rest of them into a room while they waited for his report. The room itself was roughly the size of a cafeteria in a hospital on Earth.

Meanwhile, Heilen was finished with his notes and put the tablet down. He called out to an assistant and they brought him an elongated device with a light on the tip. He picked up the tablet again and attached the device to the bottom of it.

Slade gave him a suspicious look when he started to move it along the length of his body. He didn't think it was to hurt him, but he still wanted to know what the doctor was doing to his 'son'.

He noticed this look and explained to him, "This is a body scanner, all I plan to do is scan him for anything concerning."

The light at the end of the device turned on and he slowly moved it along the length of his body several times. He looked at the results of the body scan and found something very suspicious, several things that were very suspicious. This definitely needed to be reported immediately.

He opened the door to the room Reinrassig took them to. They were waiting around for something to happen and looked to be bored. Some of them occupied themselves by filling their stomachs with food provided to them.

Robin noticed him standing by the doorway, "Did you find something?"

"One could say that," he answered cryptically.

"What does that mean?" Ben questioned, growing concerned.

He could have answered right then and there, but there was an additional person who also deserved to know. And he was with his patient, awaiting his return.

He turned around and began to walk away, "Come with me."

One by one, everyone followed him out of the room and he led them to the bed where the 'father' and 'son' were. They hoped that he was not about to tell them any bad news, that was the last thing they needed.

"Well, give us the bad news," Kevin uttered monotonously.

"I conducted a body scan and the results revealed inflammation in his esophagus, an indication of prolonged problems with the stomach," he explained. "Specifically, it appears to me that he has been vomiting repeatedly for a prolonged period of time, possibly many years."

"How do you know this?" Robin asked.

"There are signs of irritation in the upper and lower esophageal sphincter as well as his pharynx," he answered. "His stomach is empty as well and I found trace amounts of organic and inorganic materials in his digestive tract, food he was able to digest before he fell ill. If I had to estimate, I would say he vomited at least once within the past hour."

"Well, he was coughing when we first arrived," Ben uttered, "could that have something to do with it?"

"No," he responded, "it is possible that his vomiting could have been a factor in his coughs, however, coughing would not cause this amount of inflammation and irritation."

"So, wait, you're saying that he threw up sometime in the past hour and that caused him to start coughing?" Kevin sounded very frustrated and confused.

"I cannot say for certain, I will have to conduct more tests to know with absolute certainty," he claimed. "In the meantime, I know a way to help his stomach."

"What would that be?" Gwen inquired.

He knew they wouldn't appreciate the answer he was about to give them, but they were the ones who were asking. "Blood. He needs blood."

**O*~*O*~*O**-U-**O*~*O*~*O**

**(A/N: I hope this is a good place to stop for now. I know there's not a lot of humor in this chapter, but that's the point, none of what these guys are going through is humorous. So, because of that, I think this is probably one of my more favorable chapters.**

**Just like I said in the beginning, the next couple of chapters will be a little sensitive in the medical area, so you might want to avoid them. I'm sorry if I got something wrong with Heilen and his assessment, but I did my best. Yet another reason why you might want to avoid the next few chapters.**

**For those of you who are wondering about Reiny's courtship, he is engaged in my story "No More Chains", this takes place after the events of that story. I've wanted to put in a little allusion to that story since the day I finished it a couple months ago. Feel free to check it out if you want.)**


	17. Chapter 17

**(A/N: Like I said in the previous chapter, there will be some sensitive themes in this. I would definitely read cautiously and, fair warning, there will be gore in this, but not too much, I promise. It could be a little disturbing to some, but hopefully not too, too much. That's all I have to say as of now. I hope everyone enjoys it.)**

X~O~***Y***~O~X

"B-Blood?!" Beast Boy shrieked at the top of his lungs. "This- This is a joke, right? Please, say you're just kidding!"

"I am not," Heilen's voice was calm and slightly stern.

"So, how will blood help him?" Robin inquired.

"Tyro Yagon evolved from a carnivorous species," he started.

"We know that," Beast Boy interjected, he sounded stressed.

"That being said, their desire for meat and for blood still exists within them to this day," he explained. They still looked at him in confusion, so he gave them an explanation, "The reason why I say he needs to be given blood is due to the amount of nutrition it contains."

"Nutrition?" Gwen repeated. "You mean there are certain nutrients in blood that he can ingest that will improve his health?"

"Yes," he answered. "Blood is rich in iron, protein, and numerous other nutrients vital to health. Humans cannot tolerate it, they did not evolve to."

Robin gave this some thought and found himself agreeing with what he was saying. "You do have a point. If he really is anemic, blood would have everything he needs to develop a tolerance to the cold."

"But, wait, if he's a carnivore, how is he able to eat fruit without any problems?" Ben asked, a little confused.

"I said he evolved from a carnivorous species, not that he is," he claimed. "Tyro Yagon are actually omnivorous, although they do prefer meat to plants."

Ben felt like an idiot for saying that, "Oh, my bad."

"So, does this mean that one of us has to donate blood to him?" Kevin asked.

"No need, we have plenty in storage," he responded. "However, before it can be given to him, I would like to collect a DNA sample in order to determine his blood type."

"Well, that's going to be a problem, he doesn't have DNA," Slade mentioned.

"All I require is a small skin sample," he replied.

He picked up a tool similar to what a dermatologist might use and took his sleeved arm in his hand. He moved his hand down to his hand in order to take a sample and that's when he discovered the secret XL was trying to keep hidden.

He dropped his arm, which fell limply onto the bed, and let out a sound that sounded like a gasp. Everyone looked at him with shock, confusion, and concern.

"What happened? Did you find something?" Robin questioned, he almost sounded like he was close to shouting.

"His skin is dry," he answered.

"And that's such a big deal, why?" Kevin asked, although he was disinterested.

"Tyro Yagons need their mucus for many reasons, protection from potential predators, a natural moisturizer to keep their skin healthy, and to regulate their body temperatures in order to prevent illness and dehydration," he explained.

"What?!" Cyborg did everything but shout. "Well, how long will it take for him to regenerate it?"

"Unfortunately, quite a while," he responded. "It only helps to protect them in warm environments and Augstaka is quite cold, it could potentially take hours, or even a number of days."

"Okay, before we get ahead of ourselves, why don't you take this opportunity to take a DNA sample to help with his stomach problems?" Gwen suggested. "We'll figure out what to do about his skin later."

He decided that arguing would most likely be futile, and she did have a point. If he tried to solve his skin problem, it would hinder his opportunity to take a DNA sample, considering there's no DNA in the mucus, not even minute traces.

He used the tool to lightly scrape the back of his wrist. He called out to another assistant and they took the tool from him. They came back a moment later to inform him of the results of the test.

Once he was informed of this, he informed them of the results, "He has a rather rare blood type known to you as Rhesus-negative."

Beast Boy looked at him in confusion, "Huh? What the heck is Recess-negative?"

"Rhesus," Raven corrected him. "Rhesus or Rh-negative means he lacks a certain protein in his blood."

"Roughly about fifteen percent of Earth's human population has it," Gwen explained.

"And only one-fifteenth of one percent of all Tyro Yagon have it," Heilen added. "It is thought to be the result of a mutation."

"A mutation that later becomes a recessive trait in a select few families," Slade spoke. "A one in a million chance."

Heilen left to retrieve the blood, he did not trust an assistant to retrieve it when it could mean life or death. He doesn't like to leave his patients, but he felt confident that nothing would happen to him.

He returned with three pouches of blood from storage. Only one would be needed for the time being, but an emaciated person would be starving for more.

When they saw the color of the blood, they noticed that it was red, like human blood. Did that mean that it was, in fact, human blood? It was possible.

He attached a long, thin tube to the end of one of them, the other two were cast aside for the moment. He opened XL's mouth and carefully slid the tube down his throat. Once it was as far as it could go, he hung the pouch on a hook and released the valve; gravity would take care of the rest.

The red fluid poured into the tube and began to slowly flow through it. It spilled into his throat like a water faucet and proceeded to make its way down to his stomach.

He groaned when the blood hit his esophagus and started to move his head around from side to side. He opened his eyes when roughly half of it was gone, but his vision was horribly blurry, he could not make out what was filling his stomach.

When he could finally see clearly, the first thing he saw was not the doctor or even his 'father', but what the substance feeding him was. He recognized that glorious red liquid anywhere.

He sits up in the bed and grunts slightly as he does. After that, he couldn't remember much, all he saw was black in his mind and red in his eyes.

He pulled the tube out of his mouth and yanked the pouch off of the hook. He tore the cap off and drank the rest of the blood like a ravenous, dehydrated animal desperate for water.

Some of it missed his mouth and trailed down both sides of his side and his chin and neck. It gave him a slight vampiric appearance, especially now that his sharp teeth were clearly apparent.

He drained it dry, not sparing a single drop, and tossed the empty pouch aside. Adrenaline was rushing through his body and he let out a roar similar to the one while on Soron, which startled those who did not hear it before.

Fatigue suddenly came crashing down onto him like a tidal wave. He laid back on the pillow, his eyelids were beginning to fall.

He flinched when he felt something on his shoulder, his eyes glazed over hungrily when he saw what it was. It was a hand, but he didn't care, because it wasn't a hand in his mind, it was meat.

Everyone who was watching everything that was going on was completely shocked by his actions, although weren't surprised. That was until they saw what he did next.

He opened his mouth near his wrist and closed it shut. In a split second, the hand was severed from the wrist and yellow, slightly transparent blood dripped out. He took the slightly bloody limb and began to tear at the flesh with his sharp teeth.

"Holy shit! He just bit off his goddamn hand!" Beast Boy shrieked before he fell to the floor.

"Is he alright? Should I have him examined?" he asked. Surprisingly, his voice did not show any hints of pain, despite the fact that he just lost a limb.

"He'll be fine, this happens all the time," Raven responded.

"Doesn't your arm hurt?" Gwen questioned. "You did just lose your hand."

"It is nothing, it will regenerate shortly," he replied.

He then picked up the tablet and began to take pictures of the injury. This could be the first time an injury such as this, inflicted by a being of a separate galaxy, has ever been documented.

Robin decided to take a look at it for himself. "May I?"

"Please, I insist," he rested his arm into his gloved hand.

He examined it and was surprised to see that the muscle and tissue wasn't jagged, but smooth, like it had been cut cleanly. Seeing that almost made him afraid, it was only a brief bite, but it was apparently strong enough to rip off the hand from the arm with ease. He now felt sorry for Beast Boy, but was relieved that shark skin was too thick for him to bite through without some amount of effort.

He glanced at XL and watched as he effortlessly ripped off chunks of flesh and ate them. He couldn't help but to feel sorry for the severed limb.

He looked back at the injury, but before he could continue his examination, the missing limb grew back before his eyes. It was certainly surprising, but also very intriguing to be seen first hand.

Heilen flexed his fingers and clenched his fist a couple of times. It felt numb, but that was expected and the feeling would return in due time; he wasn't worried.

He raised his arm to examine it for any anomalies, which occasionally happens, regeneration is not without risks. For the most part he found nothing wrong, that was until he noticed that he was bleeding, and it was in the exact same area where he was bitten.

He was less concerned and more curious by how this happened. Highbreed skin can typically withstand most venoms and, as far as he knew, Tyro Yagon do not have any known venom.

Robin noticed how intrigued he was and asked, "What happened?"

He lowered his arm, "I am bleeding."

"Maybe you should get it looked at," Gwen suggested. "You don't know what he could have transferred to you."

"I am less concerned with a disease and more intrigued by why this is happening," he responded.

"I'll tell you why, it's because he bit you," Kevin rudely interjected.

"It should not be," he claimed, "it should have ceased when my hand regenerated."

"Maybe it's some kind of venom or something," Cyborg thought out loud.

"To my knowledge, Tyro Yagons do not have venom," he replied. He then realized or remembered something, "They do, however, have an anticoagulant in their saliva."

"What's that?" Ben asked.

"Anticoagulants prevent the blood from clotting, they are often prescribed to reduce the risk of blood clots and strokes in people of high risk," he explained. "It also prevents an injury from coagulating, thus allowing it to continuously bleed."

"And you aren't worried about that?" Gwen inquired.

"No, I am not," he answered. "We have the best medical care here, this is nothing."

"Okay, so since you're fine, what about him?" Kevin asked, pointing at XL, who was still chewing the flesh off of what was left of the hand.

The top layers of it were long since gone and the under layers were severely chewed to the point where it looked like hamburger meat. A couple of parts were gone completely, revealing the bone underneath.

"We have to wait, it is far too dangerous to attempt to get between him and his meal," he told them.

"We don't have time to wait, we need to get this over with so we can get Angelos out of him," Robin slightly exaggerated.

Instead of arguing with them, he moved aside and gestured to his bloodthirsty patent, "By all means, you have my permission."

They looked at him and watched as he savagely ripped out the artery in the wrist. An arc of blood burst out of it and showered him and the bed he sat in. He ate it like he was eating a bowl of spaghetti and quickly swallowed it.

Beast Boy was quick to take a step back. He knew from experience to not get in between an animal and its meal.

Ben started to play with Ultimatrix, "Okay, so I'll just turn into Four Arms or something and pin him-"

Heilen interjected to inform him, "I would not recommend you try, it is said when Tyro Yagon tears into flesh it causes the levels of adrenaline in their bodies to increase tenfold."

"And when their adrenaline increases…" Robin started.

"Their strength increases," Slade finished.

"Not to mention that he probably has enough energy to run around the entire city several times over," Kevin remarked.

"So, anyone have any bright ideas on how we're gonna get him to calm down?" Cyborg asked.

Gwen looked at Raven, "What do you think? Should we try our magic?"

"My sleep spell will only work if I can touch him and I don't think he'll let me get close enough to him," she responded.

She then considered her own spells, "Now that I think about it, if I used one of my spells while he's worked up like this it could have some unfortunate results."

"Okay, any other ideas?" Ben questioned.

No one had anything to say, Slade had an idea but even he wasn't sure if it would work. From the perspective of Heilen, it was slightly amusing to see them struggle to develop any suggestions on how they were to get through this to move on. However, he knew that enough was enough, it was time for him to help them with this. He also didn't know how to explain to his Supreme Leader if he suddenly walked in and asked for an assessment.

"Is there something he particularly enjoys, such as a hobby?" he suddenly asked.

Kevin shrugged, "We wouldn't know, we just met him yesterday."

"You might have met him yesterday, but I've known him for nearly a decade," Slade spoke.

He took out a familiar dark red device and a pair of black headphones. XL's music player and headphones.

"When and why do you have that?" Ben asked.

"I took from him when he collapsed," he answered.

"So you took what's probably the most important thing in the world from him?" Kevin remarked. "That's a little harsh."

'Give me a break,' he mentally retorted, 'he's seen much worse.'

He turned on the device and was about to pick a song when Beast Boy suddenly asked, "Hey, can I pick the song? I'm sure I can find something he'll like."

He handed it to him and he looked through the song list. He tapped on his pick and carefully made his way to the bed to set it next to him.

When it began to play, it seemed to calm him and his body started to move around in unison to the instrumental opening. Then, the song got to the lyrical part and he covered his ears. The distinctive sound of hip-hop music was audible even to their ears even though they stood some distance away.

Kevin picked up the music player and looked at the chosen song. "Yeah, I don't really like listening to Ludacris either."

Slade took it back and tapped on his planned pick. He set it down next to his 'son', taking a step back just to be safe.

The song "Dance with the Devil" by Breaking Benjamin began to play and, just like before, he moved in rhythm to the opening. The introduction rang out and he closed his eyes as it echoed in his ears. It wasn't long before he began to sing along to it.

_I believe in you_

_I can show you that_

_I can see right through_

_All your empty lies_

_I won't last long_

_In this world so wrong_

_Say goodbye_

_As we dance with the Devil tonight_

_Don't you dare look at him in the eye_

_As we dance with the Devil tonight_

_Hold on!_

_Hold on…_

He blinked a couple of times and slightly tilted his head to the side, "What happened? Another blackout?"

"Uh, maybe you should look at what's in hand," Ben answered in somewhat of an awkward voice.

He felt something wet and slimy in his hand and looked at it. It was a large tridactyl hand with the flesh stripped off. The muscle and tissue was chewed all to hell, if he didn't know better he would have thought it was finely ground meat.

He glanced at Heilen's wrist and saw that it was bleeding. He also saw all of the blood on the bed and on his hands. It wasn't hard for him to put the pieces together.

He frowned slightly, "Sorry about your hand."

"It is nothing," he reassured, "worry not."

"I guess you taste delicious," he joked mildly with a shrug and a slight smile.

"Highbreed are regarded as a delicacy by some," he mentioned. His tone was flat, typical for a Highbreed, but to him it almost sounded like he was joking.

His smile widened, exposing his sharply pointed teeth. Heilen could have gasped when he saw his teeth, they were magnificent.

"Keep your mouth open," he told him in somewhat of an eager tone.

He was confused by the request, but complied anyway and kept his mouth open for him. 'This is the second time today someone has told me to open my mouth,' he thought.

He picked up the tablet again and began to take photographs of his teeth. Every tooth in his mouth was as sharp as blades.

He closed his mouth and asked, "Are we done yet? I'm really getting tired of people asking me to open my mouth."

Gwen and Kevin both looked at Ben for an explanation, to which he just responded, "Don't ask."

Heilen put the tablet down, "Apologies, I tend to get ahead of myself whenever I discover anything new."

"I do, too, it's no problem," he smiled.

When he did, his pointed teeth were beginning to look blunted again. They were still sharp and carnivorous, but they appeared to be half-blunted and half-pointed.

While it was certainly interesting to see how they went from sharp to blunt in only a minute, it was a little scary to see the sharp points at the ends of each tooth. And while he was calm now, his teeth seemed to show that he might still have a hidden bloodthirst in the back of his mind. And that was a truly terrifying thought.

X~O~***Y***~O~X

**(A/N: Well, how was it? Was it gory enough for you? I certainly hope so, it is Halloween.**

**I tried to keep a Halloween theme with the blood and the severed hand. I decided to give XL vampiric and even zombie characteristics when it comes to his meat eating habits to keep the theme.**

**That thing about blood being nutritious is true. Blood is full of proteins (amino acids), iron, and a million other nutrients that is vital for health. And be sure to remember XL's blood type, that will be brought up again.**

**XL's apparent hatred of hip-hop music is based on my personal music preference, I just don't like hip-hop at all. I have no problem with the artists, but the genre is just a no for me. I included the song "Dance with the Devil" because I feel that it's fitting with the theme. Some devote religious people even consider Halloween to be the "Devil's holiday".**

**Anyway, that's all I have to say and I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween. Again, stay safe and have a happy Halloween.)**


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